


Back and forth

by felixmahdork



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, I'll add more tags if I think I need to, M/M, Multi, Slow Burn, Some Swearing, Strangers to Lovers, Super power AU, and powers will be revealed slowly too, mentions of abandonment, mentions of bullying, not all members have powers tho sorry, still dunno what to do with minwoochan skdjaldj, uhh couples won't be a thing for a while
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-10
Updated: 2019-08-13
Packaged: 2020-04-24 06:45:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 28,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19167931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/felixmahdork/pseuds/felixmahdork
Summary: Kim Seungmin would describe himself as a normal teenager, Jeongin couldn’t say that about himself however.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you like this!! Idk how frequently I'll update tbh sorry but there are 3 other chaps already up on tumblr if you want jfksjf

Somehow Seungmin didn’t hear his fourteen alarms that morning and didn’t have an ironed uniform ready for him to jump into either. He woke up in a panic after checking what time it was, school had already started half an hour ago. 

He all but flew out of bed, landing on the ground harshly, and rushed to the bathroom. Quickly he washed up and made sure he smelled decent enough. When he opened his wardrobe to find the wrinkly blazer and button up, he let out a frustrated grin and almost cursed. He pulled it out of the wardrobe whilst he screamed “MOM!”. And so with the help of his mother, his uniform was ironed as he had a small bowl of cereal so not to be starving. He was dropped off at the gates then he jogged towards his school while patting down the mess he had for hair that day.

Seungmin felt he didn’t have any luck that day, seeing as he stumbled as he opened the entrance door and was met by a senior, and his friend, Seo Changbin. Changbin had his straight hair down like usual, covering his forehead and eyebrows. Resting at the bridge of his prominent nose were his circular gold rimmed spectacles. His shirt wasn’t tucked in though, when asked he said it made him feel too choked up. He looked good like usual and this morning he wasn’t alone. Beside him was another boy, taller than Changbin but then again most people were taller than Changbin.

This boy had black straight hair but wavy here and there that parted at the front, allowing his forehead to show through slightly. His eyes were long and sharp, they looked deep and telling, like there were definitely stories to be told through those eyes. The boy’s nose was cute, Seungmin thought anyway, for some odd reason he wanted to go up to him and just, press the tip of his nose ever so slightly and go boop. But of course he wouldn’t do that to a stranger. Seungmin could see the boy had his hands holding onto his backpack’s straps and shifted his weight from one foot to another.

“Seungminnie what are you doing coming to school this late?” The senior questioned in an amused tone. Seungmin has never walked into school this late or looking like anything less than crisp and clean.

“I slept in! I gotta go hyung I’ll talk to you later!” and as Seungmin walked past the two he stopped to turn around but continued walking backwards anyway “I’m sorry to be rude! I’m Kim Seungmin by the way!” He shouted before running across the halls to get to his class. The boy didn’t really respond, he only looked at him before turning his attention back to Changbin. 

Seungmin had been preparing himself for an embarrassing lecture from his teacher as soon as he came in, but perhaps his luck wasn’t so rotten because to his delight no teacher stood in front of the board and all his classmates were either catching some sleeping or chatting with each other. As he pulled his chair to sit down, he regretted not taking the time to have a proper conversation with his friend and the boy with the cute nose.

Seungmin hoped he would meet the boy again to introduce himself, it felt improper how he ran away so fast and he didn’t even ask for the kid’s name. Throughout the day he would only catch glimpses of him but he would always be too far away for Seungmin. And Changbin seemed busy coming in and out of the staff room with piles of paper work in his arms, being class president as a senior must have been tiring Seungmin thought.

At last school came to an end and Seungmin could finally go home peacefully after starting off so hectically. Before he could walk to the bus stop he finally saw the boy with the cute nose. He stood at the other side of the road, now with one strap hanging onto his shoulder, a hand stuffed in his pocket and the other scrolling through his phone screen. Seungmin thought this kid was pretty handsome, but also intimidating. He realized one thing, this kid didn’t smile. He admits it’s weird for anyone to be smiling when they’re standing in the middle of a sidewalk on their own but from the nanoseconds that he saw the kid at school he didn’t see his smile once or any trace of it. Seungmin felt like that frown was etched onto his face and he just wanted to know if the boy with a cute nose happened to have a cute smile too.

His point was proven soon enough. It seems he stared at the other for far too long as he allowed himself to get carried away thinking about a smile he’d never seen from a boy he’d never met. The boy must have felt his stare because he was staring back right at him. Seungmin blinked a few time before offering a half smile, that earned him an eye-roll as the boy across the street adjusted the strap of his backpack.

Great going minnie 

A bus ride home gave him plenty of time to relish in the feeling of awkwardness he caused himself. Did he look creepy? Was his mouth hanging open? why did he have to smile why didn’t he just look away? Eventually he arrived home and decided he wouldn’t torture himself overthinking it any longer. 

He opened the door gently and yelled out “I’m home!” Seungmin immediately felt better about himself as he walked further into his home, the scent of a home-cooked meal welcoming him and his mother’s voice calling from the kitchen “Minnie! Did you get in trouble this morning?” Her warm and soothing voice asked.

“Nope! thank god my teacher was absent and we didn’t get a sub.” He reassured.

Seungmin truly loved his family, he would anything for his mother and little sister. They only had each other and that’s all they needed. They all learned to lean on each other at all times because they didn’t need someone to be the ‘man of the house’. The man that held that title lost it when he walked out their front door five years ago and never came back, and there was no need for giving it to someone else.

“I got an A! I got an A on my quiz!” His little sister, Heemin, announced with enthusiasm as she ran into the kitchen. Endless words of praise were given to her then they all settled down for food. 

Seungmin had an abnormal amount of work to do that day. He had taken a nap that afternoon after arriving home, he still felt drowsy even after sleeping in that morning, which meant he had enough fuel in him to stay up and do some work, and certainly enough fuel to get up and walk to the nearest convenience store to pick up some milk for his mother.

The nearest store was ten minutes away by feet which wasn’t too bad Seungmin thought, he also thought maybe it would have been a better idea to bring an umbrella along with him after he saw how dark and gray the clouds above him were getting, Seungmin was ok with it because he knew he had enough money with him to buy a decent umbrella at the store.

He entered the store and greeted the cashier quickly and the customer that had been paying him, although he didn’t really look at them but just sped off to get the milk his mother requested. In the mere minutes Seungmin was in the store, rain began pouring outside.

Coming out of the store, Seungmin opened up the umbrella and would have started heading home but in front of him stood the boy with the cute nose. Memories of the awkward encounter outside the school gates visited Seungmin’s mind and this time he made sure not to stare for too long without speaking.

The boy’s hair was now pin straight and covered his eyelids, a black sweatshirt with the name of a band Seungmin couldn’t recognize on the front. He had light-wash ripped jeans on and the same high-tops he was wearing at school.

“Hey…uh remember me? Creepy guy across the street?” Seungmin didn’t think much of it when he poked fun at himself, but when he heard the other softly laugh through his nose, Seungmin smiled brightly. 

“Do you have an umbrella? Would you like to share one? I would give it to you but I don’t wanna get soaked…” 

“I’m ok, really.” The boy said simply. Seungmin noted that his voice wasn’t deep or high, it was just right. And it had this calming feeling to it, Seungmin wondered if he could listen to him talk all night.

Snap out of it minnie you don’t know him

“No I wouldn’t feel right leaving you here. Come on I’ll walk you home!” 

No response, the boy continued staring into the rain.

“You’re not troubling me I promise, if anything you’re doing me a favor by letting me go home guilt free!”

The other seemed hesitant when Seungmin showed up beside him with the umbrella already above them, but at this point he couldn’t refuse.

The boy was half a step ahead, head held down and gaze averted from the other as he lead the way to his home.

“What’s your name? I’m Kim Seungmin, wait I already told you that didn’t I?” Seungmin Scratched the side of his face sheepishly. 

“Yang– Bang Jeongin.” He corrected himself quickly. Seungmin thought it wasn’t usual for someone to mispronounce their own name, but Yang and Bang did seem similar enough so he brushed it off, not wanting to pry in case there was a reason behind it.

“Ok Bang Jeongin, so? what made you transfer to our school?”

“I moved houses.” Seungmin didn’t want to come off as nosy, but this was just small talk, he wasn’t asking anything too deep right? so why were this boy’s answers so dry and to the point? Maybe Seungmin should have given Jeongin the umbrella and made a run for it himself, he felt bad forcing this kid to be here with him. But still he had to try to break the silence.

“Ahh…how are you liking our school so far?” 

“Better than the last one.”

“Oh? How so? I mean if you don’t mind me asking..”

“I don’t mind. The teachers teach better and the food doesn’t suck as bad.”

“I didn’t think there were schools with food staler than ours” Seungmin commented. When he noticed Jeongin crack a small smile and even slip out a chuckle, he felt some pride swell up in his chest. Soon they were replaced by short-lived butterflies as he spotted what looked like dimples.

“Uh thanks for walking me home…I live right over there.” Jeongin pointed to a building nearby and slowly walked out from under the umbrella’s shade. But Seungmin inched closer to make sure the boy doesn’t get wet. 

“I’ll walk you to the door then.”

“No it’s fine…I’ll make a run for it…”

Seungmin gave it some thought and decided to let the boy be, he didn’t want to make him feel uncomfortable at all, that wasn’t the point of walking him home. He wouldn’t get too wet if he ran fast enough.

“Hmm alright. I’ll see you around kid! I mean Jeongin!” And with that he turned around. But he didn’t hear any foot steps in the rain so he whipped his head around and..Jeongin just wasn’t there. Odd.

The brunette arrived home soon after, but not without a scolding for taking his sweet time then a kiss on the cheek from his mother after she found out why. She knew her boy was a kindhearted young man and she couldn’t stay mad at him.

Seungmin didn’t sleep early that night, reasons being that nap he took and the fact that the work he had to get done that night and it would haunt him in his dreams if he didn’t. But he still managed to wake up early enough the next morning to look presentable for school. Today his personal mission was to find Jeongin and continue to get to know him, but this time offer him an environment where multiple escapes were available, also known as the open area of school and creativity to make excuses to run away such as ‘I’m late for class’ or pretending to see another friend down the hall.

When class had just begun Seungmin didn’t have the chance to look for the other. Lunch break came and he spotted Jeongin walking out from where all the first year classrooms were, it made more sense to Seungmin now why he couldn’t find him anywhere near, that hallway was on the other side from his classroom but conveniently closer to the cafeteria.

“Hey Jeongin.” He waved at him as he came closer to the younger one, receiving a nod and a small bow in response. The boy kept walking ahead though, not paying mind to Seungmin’s efforts of striking up a conversation nor the crowd of students making their way to eat.

Seungmin stood there for a moment, his mind blank. Then continued to jump in place as he felt a hand rest at his shoulder and heard a familiar nasally yet raspy voice “Don’t take it to heart Seungminnie, he’s like that with me too when I was giving him his tour, thought I was pretty friendly so don’t worry it’s not your fault at all if he’s sorta cold with you.” Changbin said and somehow he said all the right things. It did help Seungmin’s pride slightly but still he wondered, should he keep trying to pursue the boy with the cute nose?


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for those of you who find it good to know, this chap is 2,497 words!  
> This chapter isn't that exciting sorry!! but lol try to guess what super power Jeongin has ≧◡≦

It had been a few day since Seungmin last saw Jeongin and it was the last day of the week again. The uncomfortable feeling that he could have done something wrong remained with him. He’d ask Changbin if he’d seen him anywhere and every time the senior would tell him he hadn’t either. Seungmin tried to blame it on the fact that their classrooms weren’t close to each other but it felt like he saw every other first year but Jeongin. He worried that Jeongin could have gotten sick, or even could have changed his mind about liking this school better than the last.

Classes started and ended and no signs of Jeongin. It was now time for everyone to go home but Seungmin was walking through the halls of his school as he held his head down, watching his feet as he made his way to the staff room. He had a bone to pick with his history teacher for giving him a low mark on the last test, he’d pick that bone politely of course.

Seungmin lifted his head a bit only to walk into another body, both jumping back instantly. The brunette began apologizing for not paying attention to his way but he could of sworn that that person showed up out of nowhere. And this person happened to be Bang Jeongin.

There was a remarkably alarmed expression on the younger’s face Seungmin didn’t understand. “Hey! Jeongin! Are you alright?”

“Uh yeah uhm I’m good. Later.” He walked around Seungmin who kept twirling around to look at Jeongin. Seungmin felt he must have been mistaken, did the other smell like the sea? It was a unique scent that he loved when he used to go to the beach as a child. He considered it could have just been a sort of cologne or hair product.

Seungmin noticed something else he didn’t know how he missed before, something that brought back those little butterflies against his will. “Braces.” He blurted out and the other froze, not quite understanding why he’d mention it.

“Excuse me?” 

“Nothing! Just you have braces! It’s…cute.” Seungmin then rubbed the back of his neck and looked back at the ground, making him miss how red in the face he made the other. This wasn’t a new occurrence for Jeongin but hearing it from this particular boy made him blush and he really didn’t want to.

“Th-thanks.” Jeongin said before zooming off in the other direction. Seungmin knew he must have made him flustered after noting the way the younger stuttered, and he felt that oddly familiar pride in his chest again. But then he felt uneasiness once again, he didn’t ask the younger where he’d been for the past week.

 

At five pm the brunette had called his good friend, Changbin, hoping to convince him to watch a movie he’d been longing to see since he’d heard of it. All week Seungmin had been trying his best to convince his family to come with him but to no avail, Heemin already had plans with a friend and his mother had a shift at work they both knew she needed to take.

“So how about watching it with me?” Seungmin suggested, anticipating an answer but that was gone as fast as it came after hearing the sigh on the other side.

“I already watched it pup. I can still watch it with you again if you like?” Seungmin pouted but told the senior on the line it was ok. 

Changbin always called him pup, it was short for puppy. He remembered when they first met in middle school and one of the first things Changbin said to him was that he looked like an adorable puppy, getting him all flustered.

Seungmin pondered upon it for a while and came to the final decision of going to the cinema on his own. There was no shame in it, if he wanted to go see that movie then there was honestly nothing holding him back. The brunette figured he should experience going to the movies alone at least once in his lifetime.

So there he was, confidently asking for one ticket to the movie before ordering a medium caramel popcorn and a raspberry slushy. He went to go look for the theater he would sit in for the next two hours, but his eyes met with a pair of elongated deep eyes that blinked a couple of times. 

Seungmin was fine up until that moment. He did consider that he might spot kids from his school, but it never occurred to him that he could bump into this one, the one with the cute nose and braces. Suddenly he felt embarrassed for coming to a movie on his own.

“H-hi” He started shyly.

“Hello” Jeongin replied, seeming equally as shy. 

“Innie you wanna share a large bucket or.. oh is this your friend?” A boy who seemed older asked as he came behind Jeongin. He had bleach blonde hair that was curly but styled perfectly, a pronounced nose and a deep set dimple that was clear as day when he offered a friendly smile to Seungmin. “No” Jeongin’s answer was entirely too quick that it hurt Seungmin but he was right, they weren’t really friends. Barely acquaintances if he was being brutally honest. Jeongin then began sputtering out “I mean I know him but we’re just uhm you know” He shrugged.

The older definitely sensed an awkward atmosphere, biting the inside of his cheek while his eyes darted between the other two, waiting for some sort of interaction. He figured it out for himself that it wasn’t coming any time soon so he took it upon himself to at least start some small talk.

“what movie are you watching…uh…?” The blonde gestured with his hand for Seungmin to finish his sentence and gave an encouraging smile.

“Seungmin! I’m seeing the new spider-man movie.” At this, Jeongin lifted his gaze from the ground and allowed himself to at least watch them talk.

“So are we! I could tell Innie here seemed interested in it so I made him let me take him to it! I’m Chan by the way, his brother!” He introduced himself, extending a hand to shake Seungmin’s. And Seungmin was a little confused because these two could not be more different, both in personality and physical appearance, besides the dimples of course.

“I’m adopted.” He heard coming from Jeongin. Seungmin would have laughed thinking it’s a joke but seeing as neither of the two really seemed to be joking he just let out an “ahh ok, I’ll see you inside then?” It made a little more sense to him now why Jeongin had stuttered as he introduced himself the first time they talked.

Before he could run off, Chan asked to know where Seungmin would sit so he could get seats next to him. He’d also asked who the brunette was there with, to be answered with Seungmin quietly murmuring that he came alone and Chan beamed telling him how it was great they ran into each other after all. Seungmin didn’t know if Jeongin was really comfortable with his brother’s plans of sitting with him but the boy’s face remained neutral when Chan first asked. 

 

There they were, sitting far back in the theater, all three together with Jeongin in the middle.

Seungmin tried his best to focus on the movie being screened but every now and again he would steal a glance at the boy sitting to his left. He just couldn’t ignore how beautiful Jeongin’s side profile was, his jaw line defined and his features illuminated by the light the screen reflected on him. He’d see how he was breathing softly with his mouth parted only slightly, how he blinked a few times in a row each time the plot thickened, how he’d adjust his hoodie sleeves so he would have sweater paws, he must have been cold. And he was about to offer his jacket but Seungmin knew he had a warm smile spreading on his own face when he watched as Chan gave the cardigan he’d been wearing to his brother and insisted that he was feeling warm anyway.

As they exited the theater, Seungmin and Chan had begun discussing the events of the film rather enthusiastically, as did many of the other viewers. Jeongin settled for listening to the two, humming and nodding along to what they said.

“I’m going to the restroom.” Jeongin spoke gently, as if he didn’t want to interrupt the conversation.

“How do you know Innie? You seem older?” Chan changed the topic as the youngest left momentarily.

“Yeah I’m a year older” He giggled “Saw him one day when I was running late to school, I think that was his first day too cause a friend of mine was giving him a tour. Then on that same day I went to a convenience store and it started raining and he was outside the store so we shared an umbrella” Seungmin explained.

“Ohh yeeaah I remember him walking in barely a drop of rain on him, said some guy at school dropped him off to the entrance. That was very nice of you! Thanks for protecting him” Chan grinned and patted the other on the shoulder. But Seungmin was confused, he didn’t walk him to the door, he said he’d run for it. Maybe he managed to find somewhere to walk under while it poured? but that didn’t make sense there wasn’t any sort of refuge ho-

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a clearing of the throat behind him.

“Hyung…can I talk to Seungmin for a bit?” Chan raised a brow but told him he would go get the car from the parking lot, allowing the two to talk freely.

Seungmin had a certain anticipation in him he couldn’t help but feel, this boy was so aloof with him the curiosity of what Jeongin wanted to talk about was taking over him. Then the cynical side took over. What if Jeongin was going to ask the brunette to stop being so friendly with him? Or tell him how uncomfortable he was when he they sat next to each other? So many what ifs and almost none of them made much sense to think of as a possibility.

“Thanks for watching the movie with us…I’m sorry I said we weren’t friends earlier uh I mean we’re not…but if it hurt you in any way then I didn’t mean to.” He said sheepishly and kept his gaze set on one of the buttons on Seungmin’s sweater. Seungmin almost cooed at what the younger said, it probably sat on his mind for a while.

“Jeongin you didn’t offend me or hurt my feelings at all!” The brunette waved his hands as he spoke. “The movie was great and I’m glad I had some company in the end!” Jeongin cracked a half smile at that.

They walked out together where Chan stood leaning on his car waiting for the two. “Seungmin-ssi, wanna have dinner with us? I’m not promising anything fancy” Chan suggested as he wrapped his arm around his brother’s shoulders, the other seemed unbothered and even relaxed into Chan’s side. The two quickly looked to Jeongin as if seeking approval and it didn’t go unnoticed by the youngest.

“If you don’t already have plans…” Jeongin shrugged.

Seungmin wanted to agree, he wanted to jump at the chance of getting to know these two more. He’d been curious enough about Jeongin but Chan was so friendly and had a warm aura about him, Seungmin couldn’t help but want to keep talking to him. However, the brunette still had priorities, number one being his family and he had to walk his sister back home from her friend’s house. He apologized as he rejected it and thanked the other for his offer and his next offer of dropping him off. Chan really was too kind. The eldest rubbed Jeongin’s sides before they both got into the car and drove off.

As he entered the car, Jeongin couldn’t help but pout a bit.

 

“You’re talking my ear off Heemin jeez.” Seungmin complained.

After picking up his little sister, she had gone on a rant and jumped from subject to subject that Seungmin just preferred to stop trying to keep track of them. She’s always been talkative and Seungmin never really thought it was a bad thing, but he always liked the quite. He liked being able to hear himself think and just listen to his surroundings.

“Anyway-” She ignored him and went on, something about what other colors animals could see that humans couldn’t. Seungmin laughed out and figured the only way to silence her was to put her in a headlock, so that’s what he did.

“Seungminnnn stoopp” 

“Will you shut up?” 

She tapped his hands in surrender and he let go. She didn’t actually keep quiet but she at least settled for one topic.

“How was the movie? Did you actually go alone? I bet you looked like a loser.” Heemin teased which made him respond by poking her side with a pout. 

“The movie was a masterpiece! You need to watch it when you get the chance. And I wasn’t alone! I bumped into someone from school and we sat together, it was nice.” Seungmin defended himself.

“Yikes you ran into someone from school while going to the cinema alone? wasn’t that awkward?” She continued and earned herself yet another poke to the side.

“No it was pleasant actually. Kind of. I talked more with his brother than who I ran into…is that weird? I guess not I mean he’s usually indifferent…We’ve only ever had one conversation other than that. Can I even call it a conversation? He answered a few questions and tonight he said like barely two things to me but still it was nice I guess. He hasn’t shown any signs of dislike towards me so I’m good but.” He finally paused “I don’t know anymore!” He let out with his nose scrunched in disgruntlement of his own overthinking.

“You’re talking my ear off Seungmin jeez.” Heemin mocked and got a another poke in return, this time it was multiple in a row. “I think this dude sounds off. Sure, maybe he’s really awkward with strangers but, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, you’re easy to warm up to.Talking to you is always good. If you have the patience he’ll probably end up being your friend sooner or later.” She continued thoughtfully. 

Seungmin took a moment to consider it. He loved the satisfactory feeling he gained whenever he was able to bring out a small trace of a smile on that boy’s face, he wondered how it would feel to see a big bright grin. And he wanted to see it no matter what, so for the next week, he would try to make himself familiar with Bang Jeongin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> find me on tumblr! @felixmahdork


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you like it :)  
> and to those who would like to know this chapter is 3,523 words long hehe

Unfortunately for Seungmin, the odds were against him. Or rather, his teachers were against him. Because they must have all agreed that the best week for quizzes, tests and projects was that coming week. If Seungmin wasn’t as polite and well disciplined as he was then he would have riled up the students against all of them. Changbin only laughed when he heard his friend’s thoughts.

“Seungminnie, please, you can barely handle answering a question wrong in class.” He commented with a chuckle. 

“Hey I can be a rebel if I want to.” Seungmin claimed, pouting and kicking at the ground.

“Yeah pup that lil pout screams ‘delinquent’. If you really can be a ‘rebel’“ Changbin used air quotes as he spoke “Then I dare you to be ten minutes late to your next class” He challenged, looking up to the younger with a smug look on his face.

Seungmin raised his head with wide eyes. “Ten minutes?! Isn’t that too much?” This gained him an entertained look from the other. “I said if I wanted to not if I was dared or otherwise forced to, soo I guess I can’t do it” Seungmin shrugged. “And what type of student council president dares another student to be late to class. tsk tsk.”

“Ok smart-ass. Then get going to class before I give you detention.” 

“You can’t do that!”

And Seungmin walked off with a wide grin, he loved talking with Changbin. Although he was a senior and was respected by many of the student body, Changbin had always been so casual with him. He’d never used his seniority for leverage unless he was doing it jokingly. Changbin liked to joke around with Seungmin but he could always sense when the brunette was slightly down and never failed to cheer him up. Seungmin would probably go as far as to tell you that pigs could fly before he’d forget how supportive the senior was when Seungmin’s father first left. Listening to him cry and holding him close, reminding the younger time and time again that it isn’t his fault or anyone else’s, bringing snacks and sleeping over. And Changbin never did it out of pity, he did it because he genuinely believed his friend didn’t deserve this much despair. Seungmin doesn’t know how he would have survived that period of his life without him and will be grateful for this friendship as long as he lived. 

As he made his way to class he’d seen Jeongin coming out of the restrooms and called out to him.

“How was the rest of your weekend?” Seungmin asked, smile on display. 

“Not bad, uh, you?” He returned. 

To anyone else, this was normal small talk but to Seungmin, he couldn’t be happier. The boy didn’t walk away from him, here he was trying to make conversation. 

“Not much happened, just the same old catching up on school work you know?” 

“Yeah, I had a couple of essays to finish up too…” He said quietly. 

Before Seungmin could open his mouth to speak, the bell had rang loud and deafening above their heads on the wall they happened to stand near. Jeongin gave an awkward nod then rushed off to his side of the building. The two might have only exchanged a couple of sentences but it was progress to Seungmin nonetheless.

 

The school day ended with Seungmin having added a few more things to his to do list. Now he had another essay to work on and a makeup test he needed to get the highest grade he could get in English. So that afternoon, Seungmin was hunched over his desk completing his schoolwork, then continued to crack open his laptop and stayed there for hours typing away at his keyboard.

Every afternoon for the remainder of that week went on similarly. But at least he could still talk to Changbin during break in school right? Not really, not as much as he would have liked. If Seungmin was feeling overworked then he couldn’t imagine his friend’s exhaustion. On top of the normally busy schedule any other senior student would have, he had to go around school running errands for teachers, doing activities and helping to organize whatever upcoming festival their school was holding the next month. Still they managed to check up on each other through late night video calls.

Seungmin figured he could breathe a little whenever he’d have his run-ins with Jeongin. However, even that he couldn’t rely on. Seungmin really couldn’t understand the younger, if ever he felt any progress it was gone the next day and back the day after. 

“Need help with that?” Seungmin offered once when he’d seen the younger coming out of the library with a stack of books in his arms. He didn’t wait for the other to answer before he relieved him of at least half of them, Walking along side him.

“Uh thank you, I’m headed to the staff room.” Jeongin said timidly. He found himself thanking the brunette frequently.

“Let me guess, Mr. Oh?” He laughed “He does this to every kid in his class, Changbin had him too when he was in first year.” Seungmin heard a small chuckle.

“You don’t have to drop them off with me, It’s pretty far…” Jeongin said.

“Don’t worry about me! I’m alright with it…So you wanna sit with me in lunch today? I think binnie, Changbin, the senior who gave you a tour your first day, might even have some time to spare and sit with us, I’m sure he would be happy to see you there.” 

“That s-sounds great but I uh I don’t-” Jeongin seemed to be very hesitant. His face crinkling up as he spoke.

“You don’t have to Jeongin.” Seungmin reminded, making sure he didn’t sound upset at all but rather comforting.

“I’ll…I’ll be there.” He confirmed and the older couldn’t help but let out a sort of yelp of happiness. 

 

When the time came and Jeongin had yet to make an appearance, Seungmin felt a certain sadness grow in him. He thought up plenty of excuses for the boy, maybe he suddenly didn’t feel well, or got caught up with something school related. But Seungmin simply didn’t want to think that Jeongin might have just, forgotten. He was about to stand up and leave but then he saw him, Jeongin was walking up to his table, hair slightly messed up and huffing air. Did he run here?

“Sorry I’m late” A pause “Math teacher held the class back way too late.” He explained.

“It’s ok, sit down sit down you look like you’re gonna pass out.” He snickered “You didn’t have to run you know.” He said as he passed him a bottle of unopened water.

“B-but I saw you…you looked like you were about to leave weren’t you?” Jeongin opened the bottle and took a sip, muttering a shy thanks afterwards.

Seungmin opened his mouth to speak but couldn’t find any words to say.

“Yes I was…whatever! you’re here now! I see you gave up on the cafeteria food already.” Seungmin pointed out the lunch box the other brought with him, wrapped neatly in blue fabric.

“Chan hyung made this and stuffed it in my bag. Y-you can have some if you want…” Seungmin felt joyous, the boy he could only get nodes and barely any sentences out of was offering to share his food. 

“No no enjoy your meal!”

They’d begun eating their food respectively, and before they knew it Changbin had showed up, hoping into the seat right in front the two.

“Oh Jeongin! Glad we have you with us today!” He greeted cheerily, Jeongin smiled back with a wave.

Seungmin noticed immediately the dark eye bags that managed to get worse and automatically he’d asked how many hours of sleep the other had gotten. 

“If I tell you you’ll flip.” Changbin said.

“Exactly why I should know.” Seungmin planted his palms on the surface without much force.

“3 hours…” The senior muttered.

“Hyung!”

“I don’t think I’ll have a lot to do today I’ll sleep better tonight I promise! Here!” He leaned over the table and fed the other a spoonful of his curry rice. Changbin cleared his throat before turning his attention to the first year, his eyes landing on a silver ring on Jeongin’s index.

“Nice ring Jeongin, have a story behind it?” He said in an effort to be friendly.

“Y-yeah I guess, A friend gave it to me…an old friend.” Jeongin answered, looking at his food as if it were the most interesting thing to look at. Changbin felt bad that he asked, he feared it might have brought back some sad memories for the youngest. 

“It’s a pretty ring Jeongin, I hope you’ll see that friend sometime soon.” Seungmin said in optimism to which Jeongin nodded with a lopsided smile. 

“Remember that history test I told you about?” Seungmin started then explained to the youngest that his teacher had given him a suspiciously low grade on it. “So I talked to her about it, you should’ve seen her face when we went over it together I was supposed to have a near perfect score! She kept apologizing over and over about how she doesn’t know how it happened.” He complained.

“I bet you were bowing and telling her she doesn’t need to say sorry or ‘everyone makes mistakes miss whatever, even teachers, it’s understandable’“ Changbin imitated his friend, leaving the other flustered because, well, that was exactly what he did.

Lunch went by smoothly, the two friends talking and Jeongin listening whilst he nodded and giggled when he found something funny.

Seungmin thought this meant Jeongin was finally getting comfortable with him, but the next day it was back to square one. 

He’d seen the other as he came into school, greeting him good morning only to receive another cold nod of the head as the youngest made his way to his side of the building. Seungmin felt his heart drop slightly. What happened? What did he do wrong? Changbin didn’t do anything, so why was he back to where he started. Seungmin wasn’t sure if he could handle a game of push and pull like this. He considered it might have been some family or personal problem that made Jeongin behave that way. It sat on his mind for too long. If he was going through a hard time, he wanted to let him know he could come to him. If Seungmin had confidence in one thing it’s how good he is at listening to people and making them feel better. He continued to smile kindly to Jeongin, even if from time to time he would be left looking like a fool smiling to no one in the middle of the hallway.

 

The rest of the week didn’t get easier, Changbin was busier but did his best to make time for his friends. And Jeongin was getting harder to approach by the day until Seungmin settled for simply waving at the boy if he saw him, even those weren’t returned. 

He found himself adding more and more tasks to his to do list and it drove him mad. He was a cranky mess and when it was finally Friday night, he decided to spend it lazily on the couch in his pajamas watching episodes of gravity falls, he deserved that much. But it wouldn’t be complete without a tub of ice cream and some spicy potato chips that he unfortunately didn’t have available in the fridge and he could almost cry at that. After pondering whether he should call his mother and ask her or go get it himself, he decided he didn’t have enough patience to wait two more hours until his mother came back home. 

Seungmin quickly threw on a hoodie and slipped on whatever shoes he saw first then walked out the door, not forgetting to grab his wallet and phone. 

His body was tired but the ten minute walk to and from the store wasn’t all bad. Not many people were out and he had some time to think and clear his mind in the fresh air, well maybe more contaminated air than anyone would like to admit. Ten minutes turned to eight as Seungmin preferred to take wider steps that day, he wanted to get it over with so he could go back home and be in the comfort of his living room couch as soon as possible. 

He looked at all the ice cream options and he couldn’t resist the glorious tub of cookie dough ice cream staring right back at him. He’d probably regret it sometime in the future but he couldn’t care enough at that moment. Then going to the snacks aisle, immediately he grabbed the biggest bag of his favorite chips. 

Satisfied with his purchases, he left the store but stopped right away when, once again, he was face to face with Jeongin. Seungmin, although fatigued and irritable, offered his best grin to Jeongin and a “Hi”. And for the nth time, it was returned by a barely noticeable bob of the head.

Jeongin tried to make his way past him but stopped when he heard Seungmin behind him, talking in an annoyed manner. “Really that’s it? I get that maybe you don’t plan on being my friend anytime soon maybe you’re just unbelievably shy but…I thought we were getting along! I mean I don’t think I did anything wrong, did I?” Seungmin didn’t like how small his voice became towards the end of his sentence. Jeongin didn’t mean to stay as silent as he did, he thought of how to explain to the brunette in front of him it wasn’t his fault. But it must have been too long for Seungmin’s liking. “Whatever” He said, turning away and crossing the street.

Seungmin didn’t look both ways before he stepped out onto the road, he opted to fish his phone out of his pocket.

“Wait!” Jeongin bellowed, and before Seungmin knew it, lights were flashing in his face as he turned. A car was about to crash right into him. 

But then he felt a bit of warmth accompanied by an odd feeling, as if being brushed with a feather all over. Arms wrapped around his form and he didn’t remember when he closed his eyes but he did. When they opened, they opened wide. Because they weren’t standing in the middle of the road anymore. They were standing on sand. He turned his head and he could see the clear blue of the ocean. Looking down to his middle, he recognized the black cloth of Jeongin’s hoodie earlier. 

“Jeongin…” his voice was quiet, like he was too scared to speak any louder than he should. 

“I know…” Jeongin breathed out.

“We’re at a…beach.…”

“I know” and Jeongin let go of the other after that.

“How..” Seungmin spun around, eyes shot open with realization “Oh my god are we dead?! that car ran over us didn’t it?? I can’t believe this!”

“What? no–” Jeongin’s face crinkled up in confusion.

Seungmin released a loud gasp as he clasped his hand over his mouth “Jeongin you shouldn’t be here! you died with me!” tears began welling in his eyes, he truly believed that they had both died. 

“No I didn’t–”

“I’m so sorry you should have just let me–”

“Stop it! We didn’t die doofus I brought us here!” Jeongin snapped, he felt irked from the other’s ramblings. Seungmin’s face had looked as if a big question mark had been drawn on his face. How could Jeongin possibly be the reason they were suddenly on the beach?

“I…wow I can’t believe me right now. I teleported us here.” 

“Teleport?? Seriously?? You chose now to joke?!” 

“I’m not kidding!” To prove it to him, Jeongin closed his eyes and Seungmin watched as he simply, disappeared. He stepped back in shock bumping into someone from behind. 

“See?” Seungmin whipped around to see that Jeongin was now standing in front of him again.

“Please. Explain.” Seungmin just wanted to understand how this was possible, his theory of being dead made more sense to him than Jeongin’s ability to teleport. 

Jeongin took a deep breath before looking at Seungmin directly. “Ever since I was a kid, like really young, I’ve been able to teleport. I discovered when at some point I just wanted to run away from home, I just kept thinking of this place and I all I wanted to do was come here. I closed my eyes and here I was…” He explained.

“S-so it just happened? No…no idea where it came from?” Seungmin said, Jeongin shook his head no to answer. 

“The only thing I know is my eyes have to be shut if I wanna do it. Then there’s this tingling feeling all over my body and I’m where I want to be in less than a second” He continued.

“Why did you, why did you bring me here? to a beach?” 

“Safest place I could think at that moment…” Jeongin said shyly as he averted his gaze. “I probably should have taken us to the other side of the street…But I panicked and I realized that a little too late…” 

“I don’t care. Y-you saved me. Thank you.” Seungmin said wholeheartedly. Jeongin shrugged, unsurprisingly so to Seungmin. “It’s beautiful out here, I can see why you’d feel safe.” 

Seungmin lifted his eyes away from Jeongin to admire the sight before him. Deep blue waters, softly coming and going creating an admirable melody. Far away he could see where the sky and sea meet. The sky a dark blue-black with a few twinkles of light scattered all over, A small but magnificently bright moon shone in the middle of it all. This did indeed, feel safe. 

“Does Chan know?” Seungmin asked casually.

“No! He can never know! Promise me you won’t tell him! Promise!!” Jeongin yelled in panic, slowly advancing towards Seungmin.

“I promise I promise! I’ll never tell a soul about this I’ll take this to the grave I promise Jeongin.” He said calmly, hoping to give the other some ease, as he reached out to place both hands on his shoulders, giving them a reassuring squeeze.

Seungmin then sat down on the soft grains of sand, soon followed by Jeongin, who sat right beside him. 

“Can I ask you something? I’m going to ask you anyway but I still have some manners.” 

Jeongin laughed through his nose before speaking “Go ahead then.”

“Is this why you’re so standoff-ish? Were you afraid what others might think should they ever find out?” 

“Stop I feel called out” Jeongin said making Seungmin let out a chuckle. “But yeah I guess…I had a bad experience back when I was a kid, it’s hard to trust people with something like this.” 

“Don’t worry, I won’t ever try to use this against you or anything.” He said, and he didn’t know then but that meant the world to Jeongin. “I’ll keep this a secret but on one condition.”

“Money is off the table” Jeongin said quickly, aiming to alleviate the serious atmosphere. 

“I don’t want money” He laughed “I want something more important than that. I won’t tell anyone about this ever if you let me be your friend. Don’t be afraid to create friendships, you don’t have to be lonely and go through things on your own. I mean if it’s just my personality you didn’t like then you can turn my offer down and I’ll still keep this all to myself. But if you were the way you were with me because of this then don’t worry about it, I won’t bite or open my mouth to anyone. And I’ll never ask for favors to take me places or whatever.” 

Jeongin didn’t know when the tears left his eyes, but all he knew was that he was overwhelmed with relief. A friend. He hadn’t had one of those in a while. He let his tears fall silently as a grin made its way to his lips. 

“Well don’t cry…” Seungmin pulled his sleeve over his hand and patted the other’s tears away. He couldn’t believe someone could be so pretty when they cried.

“Come on, I’ll take you home. Actually just the convenience store cause I don’t know your place.” Jeongin stood up, dusted off his pants before offering a hand to Seungmin.

 

They’d arrived back at the store in a blink of an eye, it was silent for a while, then they exchanged numbers. They walked in opposite directions, content smiles on each of their faces. The brunette wasn’t even sure if he believed any of it. What remained fact was that Seungmin’s heart still fluttered at the sight of Jeongin smiling, he still liked the way Jeongin’s voice sounded so smooth yet timid, he definitely still liked his deep and sharp eyes. But what he grew the most fond of was learning about him, understanding him more. That felt the most gratifying and all he wanted was to get to know him more and more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> find me on tumblr! @felixmahdork


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To those who find it convenient to know, this chapter is 5,326 long!

All throughout the weekend, Seungmin found himself constantly on his phone texting and having never ending conversations with Jeongin. Over the course of two days he’d learned that Jeongin had originally come from Busan, that growing up he loved listening to trot music, that he could never resist a nice spicy stew, that he’d had his braces for over two years and when Seungmin asked him to warn him before he’d take it off, he answered no, that he wanted to leave it as a surprise. Though with all of this talking, Seungmin never once mentioned the interesting bit of information he’d learnt about Jeongin a couple nights before.

He treated him like any other normal person, because the truth was that he was. He was a young boy still growing, he had hobbies and interests like any normal person. He just had a perk not a lot of people could say they had. 

When school started again, Seungmin was unusually excited to get to school early that day. Jeongin had told him he’d wait for him near the gate before entering.

So he walked briskly to school and he wasn’t disappointed. Jeongin was standing where he said he would be, kicking at the ground and biting the inside of his cheek. Seungmin walked up to him, gaining Jeongin’s attention and grinning happily as they made eye contact. Jeongin returned it, a sort of dreamy look in his eyes. Seungmin jerked his head towards the school entrance with a small “Come on” and in they went. 

A new conversation began almost immediately, shoulders bumping as they now walked side by side, already laughing and giggling. Changbin saw this from across the hall and didn’t know whether to be amused or confused. So he made his way over with a kind smile and said “Hey you two, had a good weekend?” 

“I’d say so…” Seungmin said, a smirk on his lips.

“Y-yeah..” Jeongin agreed shyly. 

Jeongin soon had to go to his classroom and excused himself, leaving with a sincere grin. The other two waved him off as they walked on their own path.

“Ok what did I miss?” Changbin questioned with a curious look.

“Long story short, he saved my life and I told him the only way I could return the favor is by offering my friendship and he took it.” Seungmin told him quickly, leaving Changbin to be stunned.

“Great so you almost died and he made an exception that one time to not ignore you and save you? That’s what it took to acknowledge your existence?”

“Hyung…that sounds sorta mean…”

“Pup, listen, Jeongin seems cute really I have no doubt that he’s happy to be your friend but what if he, you know, pretends this never happened? What if you see him in the halls later and he just pretends he can’t see you again? He’s done that enough times and I don’t think I wanna see you getting disheartened again…” 

“I know it’s sudden. But we talked it out and he won’t do that again! So don’t worry about it hyung we’ll be ok” Seungmin looked to the senior with reassuring eyes and Changbin could only sigh.

“Fine.” He said finally, after thinking about it shortly. He decided whatever the result was, he’d support Seungmin either way. “Oh by the way I don’t think I’ll be with you at lunch, there’s this kid in your year Miss Kim asked me to help out. His name is Han Jisung, You know him?”

“Oh! yeah I do, he’s in my class but we barely ever interact. He’s pretty quiet most of the time but he can be a bit sassy with the teachers, not a bad kid just…odd? He’s usually laughing and talking with the other people sitting near him but other than that…I don’t think I’ve seen him particularly close with anyone. And he has blue hair! Can’t miss him!”

“Huh, blue hair, nice to know. See you later pup…”

The two went their separate ways, but along the way Seungmin wondered why miss Kim asked Changbin to help out, why not someone that was already in his class? Seungmin brushed it off quickly before entering his classroom just as the bell rang, signaling first period.

ღ 

Lunch break was finally upon them. which Seungmin was grateful for, seeing as he had trouble keeping his eyes open. He couldn’t bare listening to his teacher continue droning on, it was like every sentence came in through one ear and left through the other without bothering to visit his brain so he could process the information. He made a mental note to go over the topic again at home.

As he was about to enter the cafeteria, he felt a light hand circle around his wrist and he turned to see a smiling Jeongin, albeit small, it was there. 

“Hyung I have a surprise for you…” 

Seungmin thought he could melt after hearing ‘hyung’ come out of the other’s mouth, knowing it was addressed to him. Jeongin had used it over text, but hearing it in person -and for the first time- made the effect twice as severe. 

The older nodded, curious to find out what Jeongin could possibly have done or brought for him. Then, he was being led to the school restroom. Red flags began showing up in his head but come on, this was Jeongin. 

Once they were inside Jeongin began giving the area a quick scan before entering a stall with an out of order sign on it, pulling Seungmin in with him.

Seungmin grew more and more concerned, the younger giggling upon noticing it on his face.

“Close your eyes hyung” Jeongin said quietly. Seungmin felt a bit…flustered. But he did it anyway. Closing his eyes, he felt Jeongin place both hands on either side of him and then that familiar tingling feeling took over his body. He then opened his eyes to see he was still in a stall, but it looked a lot different than the dull navy of his school’s restrooms. Instead there were cream colors and marble tiles that replaced the gray of his school.

Seungmin shot Jeongin a shocked look before he spoke quietly “We’re not in school anymore are we?” 

Jeongin shook his head answering no. “We’re in the restroom of the cafe across the school.” The younger had to hold back a chuckle at the surprised look on Seungmin’s face. “Surprise?” Jeongin said, with the cutest of shrugs.

Jeongin wanted to do something nice for the other. After putting him through a game of push and pull, he realized how much he must have emotionally drained Seungmin, never making it clear whether or not he wanted anything to do with the other. Seungmin would argue that he didn’t owe him anything, but Jeongin wouldn’t have it.

He opened the stall and walked out of the bathroom, Seungmin trailing behind, to reveal a coffee shop. That addictive scent of roasted coffee beans roamed in the air and calm music played through the speakers, they walked further into the place to take in the subtle homely feeling it had, with the oh so comfortable looking armchairs and fuzzy carpets, they couldn’t help but start to feel a bit cozy. Seungmin had never stepped into the shop as it only opened a few weeks ago. But Jeongin had heard of its ‘to die for lattes’ and ‘perfectly chewy brownies’ as described by some classmates, so he decided to give it a try with his new friend.

“I came in one day while waiting for Chan hyung to pick me up, Wherever I go I always make sure to go to the restroom, in case I ever wanna teleport somewhere public.” Jeongin explained. 

“That’s smart of you but…isn’t it a bit risky too? there could always be someone in the restroom you choose to go to?” 

“Most bathrooms have a weird empty corner and that’s what I go for most of the time and I don’t even teleport to public places most of the time but it could still be helpful one day…like today!”

“Thank you Jeongin-ah, I mean it’s reckless and I wanna scold you for it but this is too sweet of you for me to be a responsible person right now. Come on let’s get a cookie or a brownie or something! my treat!” Seungmin put his arms around the younger and flashed him a sweet smile as he brought him closer to the counter where the worker eyed the students a bit suspiciously before asking for their orders. 

After placing their orders and settling down on a table near the back corner of the shop, the two began to exchange conversation. Until Jeongin realized something. 

“Wait! What about Changbin hyung?”

“Oh he has to tutor someone in my class during lunch break, he wasn’t gonna show up anyway don’t worry.” 

Minutes later, they were devouring a shared plate of cheesecake and then heading back to the restroom. 

“Hold on…” Seungmin pulled Jeongin back before they could enter. Seungmin thought for a few seconds, debating if he should go ahead and do it.

“Hyung? What’s-” He couldn’t finish his sentence, Seungmin had leaned in and left a delicate peck on his left cheek then rushing past Jeongin and into the restroom. 

Jeongin remained at the door, cheeks red and eyes wide before he hurried back in after hearing Seungmin yell a “Come on we’ll be late!” 

ღ

Changbin made his way to the library, walking with long strides hoping to get there faster. He had almost forgotten he needed to go to this Jisung kid. After entering, he let his eyes scan the area, looking for a head of blue hair.

Now, he didn’t get the point of him having to tutor someone younger than him, miss Kim didn’t even have him in any of his classes and he wondered if none of the second years were good enough to do it but that thought left his mind as soon as it came, because he knew well that Seungmin, a second year, would be considered a math wiz in his books. However, Changbin had a terrible habit of not knowing when to say no to a teacher. 

As long as it wasn’t going to harm him, then he didn’t entirely mind helping out a poor second year. 

He spotted him right away, the boy was sitting back on a chair with one of his legs tucked under the other as he listened to whatever was playing in his earphones, and Seungmin was right, you really couldn’t miss him.

His blue hair parted in the middle, but not like it had been styled that way, more like the boy has run his hands through his hair multiple times. He stood out, not only because of the unusual color of hair but he just had a vibe about him. 

Changbin walked up to the boy, Jisung, and stood before him, offering a kind smile and a hand to shake, then introduced himself. “You’re Han Jisung right? I’m Seo Changbin. Miss Kim told you about me?”

The blue haired boy eyed the hand for a second before he took it in his own and shook it lazily, not bothering to stand up. “Right, nice to meet you Seo.”

Changbin didn’t know how to feel about that response. Seo. Someone younger than him addressed him as Seo and he didn’t exactly like it. But still, his smile didn’t falter as he pulled out his chair across from Jisung. “Alright then, let’s just get started.”

Although the first sentence that he’d heard from the boy didn’t sit well with Changbin, he couldn’t deny that Jisung was pretty.

He had soft looking cheeks, Thin lips that were almost shaped into a heart and a slim nose. His dark brown eyes were small but they had a shimmer in them, they glistened. And Changbin found himself admiring these features as the boy was focused in solving any problem he gave him.

So they started, the senior had been worrying that Jisung would be somewhat of a hopeless case but that wasn’t it at all. Jisung seemed to understand fast enough and only needed help here and there for more complicated problems. He’d also noticed that whatever attitude he had earlier simply diminished, Jisung had been cooperative and barely spoke much, he only ever spoke when he found himself stuck with something, and it wasn’t even really words more just little moans and sighs that let Changbin know the other needed his help.

“You’re really good Jisung-ssi, I think you could definitely get a high score on your next test.” Changbin praised, a small smile lacing his words. 

“Whatever….” He shrugged. And when the senior looked at the younger he could see that Jisung became slightly shy. 

Checking the watch on his wrist, there was still some time before lunch was over. “I think we’ve both done enough work. Want to head to the cafeteria with me?” Changbin suggested as he began gathering his things.

Jisung nodded after a couple seconds of considering the offer, muttering a small ‘sure’. 

A few minutes later, after getting themselves their respected sandwiches, the two sat awkwardly in the courtyard. Changbin did notice his two younger friends weren’t in their usual seat in the cafeteria but thought to ask them about that later.

As the two sat, Changbin thought of multiple things to talk about. So he settled for the most interesting conversation starter.

“So…what made you dye your hair blue?” Changbin started.

Jisung chewed a bit more before speaking, “Honestly, I just wanted to see the look on my mom’s face.” He chuckled and the other raised a brow. 

“Yeah she was ready to kill me but it grew on her over time and now she keeps calling me blue” Jisung smiled fondly. 

Huh. His smile really does look sort of like a heart Changbin thought.

He could tell how close Jisung was with his mother and that made him feel somewhat warm and even a little envious.

“You know, when I first saw you, walking in the library you were a little intimidating. Like you’re small but you look like you could kill you know?”

Changbin heard that a lot but he’d never been directly called small by someone he wasn’t close with. 

“Hey! I’m not that small! I could totally karate chop your neck right now!” He defended himself and Jisung only laughed.

“Why are you laughing I’m serious!” Changbin shoved the other, a pout bringing his lips down and Jisung couldn’t help but think it was cute.

“Yeah right. I don’t buy it.” He teased.

“Why not?” The senior asked, now looking like he was wronged. “What made you change your mind anyway…” he mumbled. 

Jisung began to rub the back of his neck and looked the other way before returning his gaze to Changbin.

“You smiled at me…” He admitted.

Changbin looked at the boy, taken aback, and felt himself grow warm.

ღ

School finally came to an end and Jeongin was waiting on the sidewalk across from his school to be picked up by his brother, Chan. 

Seungmin insisted on keeping the boy company while he waited. The younger worried about him, knowing Seungmin probably had work waiting for him, but he still felt thankful knowing the other would waste his time on him. Of course, it didn’t feel like a waste of time at all to Seungmin though, it was time well spent. 

“Mint chocolate is so underrated I swear innie!” He spoke animatedly, not noticing he’d used the nickname Jeongin’s brother had used. Jeongin didn’t mind at all, he liked the way it fell from the other’s lips so naturally.

“Mint chocolate? Really hyung?”

“Hell yeah!” 

“This earth has no place for the likes of you…” Jeongin sighed, earning a dramatic look of hurt from Seungmin. Before the older could retaliate and justify his tastes, a familiar car slowly drove up to the two. Chan stepping out of the car for a moment to greet Seungmin. 

“Hey Seungmin! Nice to see you again! Hope you’ve been doing well?” Chan spoke with a kind tone. 

“Hello,” He bowed “I’ve been great Chan-ssi, thank you for asking. You?” Seungmin returned, making the brothers chuckle at the formality.

“Oh come on Seungmin there’s no need to be so formal with me. Just call me hyung! And don’t bow either really it’s ok. See you around Seungmin-ah” He winked his way before reentering the car, leaving the boy to scratch his head with an awkward smile. 

Jeongin waved at his friend with a charming dimpled smile that left Seungmin even more flustered. 

ღ

The car ride home started out quiet, still Chan couldn’t help but notice the lingering smile on his on brother’s face as they drove back home. 

“I see you and Seungmin are getting closer? Would you call him your friend now?” Chan reminded the other of their encounter in the movies a while back.

“Ahh no don’t remind me! That was so awkward of me” Jeongin cringed at the memory. “But yeah…he’s pretty sweet. He’s a good friend.”

“I’m glad you’re making friends innie, I don’t think you’ve been anywhere near close to anyone since that Hyunjin you mentioned in the past.”

“I guess so….I hope he’s doing well…I still miss him sometimes.”

“Aww Jeongin” The blonde reached out to ruffle his brother’s hair before placing both hands back on the steering wheel. “Friends come and go that’s life. Some stick around and some you were only meant to meet for a moment, to maybe learn from them or they could learn from you. Who knows? If fate is by your side you’ll meet him again and I know he’ll be so happy to see you.”

And Jeongin didn’t answer but hearing that made his heart feel lighter. He did miss Hyunjin a lot. They had their fair share of experiences together and he would love nothing more than to just know how well he was doing now, after all these years. 

“And speaking of friends, Woojin is coming over tomorrow and he’ll probably stay the night. Cool with you right?” 

Jeongin felt all sorts of warmth each time his brother was this considerate of him, no matter how big or small and this was not an exception. 

The younger had known Woojin almost as long as he’d known Chan and saw him as a brotherly figure. He also liked the way Chan was around Woojin, it was like seeing a different side of him sometimes. Yeah Chan was a goof and played around with him but he was still his older brother, Chan always remained responsible. But with Woojin around, it was like that burden was split between the two. And there was a more youthful side he could see in his brother. 

“Of course hyung, he hasn’t been over in a while I’d like to see him too. You know, if you think about it, it makes sense for you two to be best friends.”

“What does that mean?”

“I mean that you’re both really kind people….you deserve each other….” Jeongin admitted shyly.

“Innie please you’ll make emotional in the middle of the road” Chan whined in a dramatic way, wiping a fake tear from the corner of his eye.

ღ

The coming day, Changbin decided to invite his newly made acquaintance to the lunch table he shared with Jeongin and Seungmin, informing the other two beforehand. 

At first Seungmin worried Jeongin wouldn’t feel comfortable around the newcomer, and he was right to worry. Jeongin was indeed nervous at the thought of making another new friend, and he still wasn’t that close with Changbin. But after that night at the beach, he remembered Seungmin’s words… “Don’t be afraid to create friendships, you don’t have to be lonely and go through things on your own.” Sure, he didn’t have to tell anybody about his teleportation abilities, so what was the harm in getting to know someone new? As long as he hid it well enough, then he would be alright. 

Seungmin and Jeongin were already seated, eating and having another ridiculous argument. This time, what goes in first? the milk? or the cereal?

“You bash me for liking mint chocolate but you pour milk in first?” Seungmin said, incredulous. 

“Listen, it’s way too crunchy if I put the cereal in first I end up with too much cereal!” 

“That’s the point? cereal tastes better when it’s crunchy who likes soggy cornflakes? You know what this discussion is over you no longer have rights.” Seungmin said simply, turning away from Jeongin and shoving a spoonful of rice into his mouth, as if to say there truly was no point in arguing further. 

Jeongin didn’t have the chance to retort as two bodies came to join them, sitting across them. Changbin had a kind grin, while the other with the blue hair seemed to fidget with the tray in his hands.

“Hey losers!” Changbin greeted, Seungmin ready to throw his water bottle at the other, leading the other two to chuckle at their interaction. 

“This is Jisung” He pointed to said boy who waved with his lips pressed into a thin line. 

“Hi Jisung, I hope I don’t have to introduce myself it would be embarrassing if you didn’t know me.”

“Yeah I know who you are Seungmin” Jisung rubbed the nape of his neck as he said so.

“I’m Bang Jeongin, nice to meet you. I’m a first year.” Jeongin introduced himself timidly. That still managed to send Seungmin and Changbin into a bit of shock. Soon replaced with tender smiles and upon noticing this, Jeongin’s cheeks gained a pink tint.

The rest of lunch went by fast and the four were now creating a budding friendship. Jisung seemed to get along with the two, joking and having light-hearted conversation, it was going well. He’d exchanged numbers with them, in hopes of continuing what they started that day. When lunch time came to an end, Seungmin and Jisung walked together and luckily for the both of them, it didn’t turn into awkward silence with the absence of the other two.

“Have you ever thought of dying your hair? I feel it in my gut man cherry red would look great on you!” Jisung exclaimed. 

“Hah, I’ve never really thought of it…if I ever do I know who to call” Seungmin smirked the other’s way. 

As they entered their classroom, side by side, shoulders bumping and giddy smiles. Their classmates couldn’t help but stare. After all the two had never really even talked to each other. But they could thank Changbin in helping them to finally actually speak with each other. 

ღ 

With school hours over, Jeongin stood at his usual spot across the school waiting for his brother, only to receive a text from him apologizing that he couldn’t make it. Jeongin had two options. Either wait for an hour for Chan to get there or get a head start and start walking home. Of course he’d thought of simply teleporting back to his house and it would be over in a flash, but Mr and Mrs Bang were home and he couldn’t risk getting caught.

It would take him around half an hour to get home, not bad.

That’s how he ended up strolling the streets of Seoul, his feet taking him in the direction of his apartment. Jeongin never really walked around often, opting to stay in and spend time with his family, and he didn’t really find anything wrong with that. He truly loved them and he would spend all the time that he could with them, despite finding peace in sitting alone in his room, minding his own business. 

As he walked, he listened to the sound of cars whizzing past him, occasionally hearing a song that must have been playing with a volume too high for anyone sane. He’d spot a dog or two taken on their daily afternoon walk, he even smiled at a baby that pointed at him from a bench. Jeongin thought it was a lovely thing to do every so often, he made a mental note to walk around more frequently. 

As the streets got narrower, and he was soon to be home, he passed by a dark alley way. Just after he’d passed it, he came to a halt, carefully listening for what he thought he could have heard. He could hear grunts and what seemed to be the sound of someone kicking another. Jeongin back tracked and took a peek at the scene unfolding, only to see a boy crouched down on the ground, hand over his stomach as he moaned in pain, blood dripping from nose. Said boy was wearing what looked like a middle school’s uniform and he was also surrounded by 4 other boys. Bullies. Jeongin despised bullies with his whole being.

Now Jeongin had no fighting skills, but he did have a power he could use to his advantage.

Before interfering, Jeongin thought it would be wiser to take off his uniform jacket and stuff it into his backpack quickly and pulled out a black face mask he kept in the front pocket of his bag. He slipped it on as he shrugged his backpack back on. This was to simply avoid any future confrontation. He wasn’t being cowardly, just cautious. 

“Hey! You sick bastards you think it’s fair to gang up on him like that?” He made his presence apparent to them. Really he had no idea where the confidence came from to talk like that, maybe it was the confidence he had in his ability. 

The lowly boys had only laughed, amused faces on each of them. After all, they were taller and buffer and Jeongin was a small scrawny kid who thought he could take them on. Jeongin swallowed hard as the first one came hurling at him, attempting to throw a punch at him before Jeongin disappeared.

The boy stumbled and lost his balance. They all stood there confused.

“Over here” Jeongin said behind two that stood at the back. They all whipped their bodies around to where Jeongin stood, a couple of them muttering, wondering just how on earth he’d managed to get there. 

The two tried to launch at him, get him before he tried anything again. But failing quickly as he once again got away in time for the two to knock into each other and bounce backwards onto the ground.

This time, Jeongin reappeared right next to the one boy he hadn’t messed with yet.

“Boo” He whispered in his ear. Startled, the boy practically flew away from Jeongin. Jeongin allowed himself to chuckle in mischief, he never used his powers like this, but hell this was amusing.

In his moment of distraction, one of the bullies had pulled him back around to face him by the shoulder, landing a solid punch on his face. Jeongin could taste blood from the corner of his mouth as he stumbled backwards from impact, soon caught in the arms of another one of them. The other three were coming threateningly closer to Jeongin. His eyes moved around until they landed on a beaten up boy looking at him with wide eyes. Before anyone could land another hit on him, Jeongin had closed his eyes and opened them again, now he was in front of the person he was trying to save. 

Jeongin could hear the grumbling from behind them, some even sounded fearful. He placed one hand on the kid’s shoulder and another over his eyes to get them out of there. 

In a blink of an eye -literally- they were in front of a healthcare center nearby. 

“Here you go…” Jeongin said quietly and remained there for a second, allowing the other to take in their surroundings, a small ‘whoa’ left his lips at the realization. 

“Alright uhh I have to go now…stay out of trouble?” The last bit came out more like a question, he just didn’t know how he was supposed to bid his farewell, it seemed the awkwardness had returned. 

“Wait!” The boy let out, gripping onto his side. 

“What? Do you need help getting in? Does it hurt really bad?” Jeongin asked, slightly panicked. 

“No no I can do at least that on my own but…” His eyes sparkled with something Jeongin couldn’t identify “Thank you, I don’t know what you are and I promise I won’t tell anyone about you but thank you” He smiled, albeit bloody and crooked, Jeongin felt the sentiment. 

At first he stood there, mind blank, only then did it register to him that he used his powers to help someone. In all the years he had them, he only selfishly used it for his comfort and ease. This felt different, this felt good. It’s not like it was the first time, he did save Seungmin, but he was too busy trying to explain himself to relish in his achievement. 

Jeongin smiled back, but after he realized the younger couldn’t see it behind his face mask, he muttered out a ‘welcome’ and jogged away. 

ღ 

In the end, Jeongin decided it would be best if just transported back to his home right away. He should have been there a while ago anyway. So he snuck away somewhere discreet, closed his eyes, let that warm tingling feeling wash over his body one again before he reopened them and he was in his bathroom. 

He dropped his backpack to the ground, his hand then reached up to his mouth, where he had received a punch earlier. Maybe it was the adrenaline rush but he didn’t remember it hurting that much. 

Just then, Mrs Bang walked in, calling his name in search of him.

“In here! About to take a shower!” Jeongin announced.

“Oh sweetie when did you come back? Oh well it doesn’t matter but dad and I are going out but Woojin and Chan will be here any minute ok? If you get hungry there’s some left over food in the fridge just microwave it. We’re locking the door on our way out too!” She rambled on but Jeongin couldn’t complain, he lived a long time without getting to hear a motherly nagging like that, and he was happy to have that now. 

“Alright I’m going! I love you!” 

“I love you too! take care!” He shouted behind the door. 

After hearing the door to his bedroom close, he turned back to the mirror in his bathroom, removing the face mask as he did so. 

“Oh no…” Jeongin breathed out.

His lips were bleeding from one corner and a bruise was blooming around it. He felt slight panic. How was he going to hide that? 

He pushed the panic away for a second, opting to treat himself first and dealing with hiding it later. 

He rummaged around in the cabinet, searching for the first aid kit, then pulled out the ointment he’d need for the cut on his lip but first cleaning the blood off with a wet washcloth, hissing in pain all throughout the process. 

After that, he realized he would need an ice pack or anything cold to help with the pain he felt and have a chance at lessening the appearance of the bruise.

But Chan and Woojin would be coming home soon and he didn’t know if he could risk it.

Ah screw it 

Jeongin rushed to the kitchen and headed for the the fridge, pulling out a pack of frozen peas. Thankful that his brother had yet to make it home.

Before reentering his own bedroom, he ‘borrowed’ Mrs Bang’s concealer hoping that it would work well enough to hide his battle wound. 

Jeongin felt a bit guilty, having to be so sneaky. But he certainly didn’t regret helping out that boy. Not one bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> find me on tumblr @felixmahdork  
> any feedback would be appreciated uwu


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes didn't know I had to do coding for bold and italic words dsjflsakjf probs gonna give up on that

Jeongin woke up the next morning a little later than usual, already worrying if he could hide the bruise on his chin well enough. The pain had alleviated and blood started to clot where the cut on the corner of his mouth was, so he hoped that it would make his job easier. 

He stepped into his bathroom after he laid in bed for a few minutes, staring at his ceiling, trying to wake up. After washing up and reapplying ointment on his mouth, he reached for the concealer he borrowed the evening before and went to work. 

A few minutes later and Jeongin was satisfied with the result. This would have to do for now. 

But just in case he would get questioned, he slipped on the black face mask from the day before. Thankfully it was black, therefore whatever blood that could have stained it wasn’t obvious for anyone to see.

Nobody really suspected Jeongin’s reasons of wearing a face mask that morning since every other time he’d done so, it was to hide his bloated face in the morning. 

Jeongin quickly finished up his breakfast and followed his brother Chan to his car.

“You ok innie? You were sorta quiet and I swear you could have inhaled that cereal.” Chan laughed. Yes, leave it to Chan to start asking him questions in a confined space where there was no escape.

“Yeah hyung, just a little tired. Not much sleep last night.” Jeongin smiled behind his mask. Which only added to Chan’s suspicion, Jeongin doesn’t smile that big this early in the morning. But he didn’t overthink it, if something was truly wrong then he believed that Jeongin trusted him enough to tell him and he reminded him of that much.

“Alriight but I’m always here to talk just remember that.” He reminded him, reaching a hand to ruffle Jeongin’s already slightly untidy hair before returning his focus on driving for the rest of the ride, tapping his thumb on the steering wheel and singing along to the playlist that was on.

ღ 

Jeongin walked through the entrance just as the bell rang, signaling that first period would begin soon. As he entered, he spotted Seungmin walking down the hallway towards him, his brows furrowed. 

“Good morning Jeongin.” Seungmin greeted, seeming hesitant. 

“Morning hyung, sorry I didn’t reply to your texts this morning. I woke up late and couldn’t get to it.” Jeongin said sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. 

Seungmin immediately huffed in relief. Truthfully, he feared that what Changbin warned him about was happening. 

“What? Thought I’d ignore you again?” Jeongin poked fun at himself, chuckling behind his mask. Then he reached for the other’s pinky with his own, his head down,

“I know I was probably an ass for straight up brushing you off in the past but…I’m not backing out of this now, I can’t when you know one of my deepest secrets already” Jeongin raised his head back up as he pulled his pinky away.

“I’d like to believe you stay for my lovely personality.” Seungmin retorted, in a way that said he was sure of himself. 

“Pfft yeah, sure, that too.” Jeongin joked as he walked away, heading to his side of the building. 

“Hey!”

“See you at lunch!”

ღ 

The four friends (Jisung, Changbin, Seungmin and Jeongin) sat together at ‘their’ table for lunch. Jeongin slipped his face mask down to his chin so he could eat.

Jisung was complaining about some class, Seungmin cutting in after listening to him go on for a while,

“Jisung calm down. Once you start it you’ll realize it isn’t as hard as you’re making it out to be…and it’s about whatever social issue you want, just, I don’t know pick a topic you’re passionate about and go off” 

“Okey dokey, then tell me what to write! I’m angry about a lot of things!” 

Changbin cleared his throat before speaking, 

“Then how about you make a list of all the things you’re mad about, and choose the one that relates most to you?”

“Then I think I already have an idea.” Jisung scoffed, earning worried glances from the rest of the table. As Jisung tried to laugh it off, he paused, eyes now looking at Jeongin. More specifically at his mouth. 

Seungmin’s eyes followed Jisung’s gaze, gasping when he saw the blood at the corner of the youngest’s lips. Jeongin froze mid-bite from his sandwich, allowing Seungmin to use a tissue to dab on it.

When did it even open up again? Jeongin thought.

Seungmin stopped his actions as he noticed what surely looked like face makeup on the tissue. He stared at it and back at Jeongin. Putting two and two together, he figured out that Jeongin must have been trying to hide that area of his mouth all day.

“I think I should go to the bathroom.” Jeongin excused himself. The rest staring at his back until he was out of their sights. 

“That was too much blood to be normal right? like it can’t be just from dry lips?” Jisung said after a few moments of silence.

“I think I’ll go check on him.” Seungmin got up quickly, Changbin and Jisung nodding. 

 

Walking through the restroom doors, Jeongin headed straight to the mirror to see how bad the damage was. 

He sighed, thinking the cut closed up for good. Then he reached for some paper towels, dabbing away the blood and noticed that the tissue had some of the concealer he applied that morning. 

He huffed in a bit of frustration, hands gripping the sink. He didn’t bring anything with him to help if something like this happened.

Just as that thought entered his mind, Seungmin came in, speedily making his way over to stand behind the boy, their eyes making contact through the mirrors.

“Hey…” Jeongin hated how unconfident he sounded

“I need to ask you something.” Seungmin said right away, crossing his arms across his chest with an firm look on his face, eyes serious. 

The boy in questioned turned around to face him,

“Shoot” Jeongin tried to sound casual. As if he didn’t already know he probably didn’t have a way out of this.

“What were you doing last night?”

Jeongin would love to wonder how Seungmin managed to figure out something was off but it really doesn’t take a genius to figure it out so he kept that thought to himself.

“At home? doing my homework?” Jeongin could have smacked himself for trying to lie but he’d already done it. Seungmin quirked a brow, eyes scrutinizing him. Since when did Seungmin look this intimidating? 

“Ok. Then what’s up with the busted lip? And the bruise?”

Well, busted is a bit over-dramatic hyung. 

Jeongin decided it was for his own good to keep that thought to himself too.

“Uhh…”

“Did…something happen at home?” Seungmin uncrossed his arms. His expression changed to that of worry as he came closer. At the realization of what he was insinuating, Jeongin’s eyes blew wide open as his arms came up in a defensive manner before speaking,

“What? no of course not! they would never!” Jeongin reassured. 

Right, Seungmin doubted that Chan would let anything like that happen to Jeongin. 

“Alright then how did that happen? Has someone been picking on you?!” He exclaimed. “Changbin has arms of steel he will beat the crap out of someone if he needs to trust me just say the word-” 

“Hyung no” Jeongin laughed out. 

He decided there was no reason in and no way that he could or should keep lying to Seungmin (or rather attempt to lie). So he explained the events of the day before to him.

When he was done, Seungmin wore an unreadable expression.

“Seungmin hyung…”

“….”

“Can you say something? It’s not like I did something wrong…”

“Yeah you did good but that was so dangerous Jeongin! What if you got badly hurt?” 

“I was careful! and besides they were too freaked out…” Jeongin looked the other way.

“What would you do if they reported you huh?” Seungmin crossed his arms once again as he asked.

“Who would even believe them?” Jeongin reasoned.

Realizing that he had a point, Seungmin sighed deeply before speaking again, quieter this time, sincerity and concern showing through his words. “That was very brave of you Jeongin-ah. You helped a poor kid out and I couldn’t feel more honored to know you but please, for the love of god please, do not go looking for trouble…” Seungmin pleaded.

The school bell rang, signalling the end of lunch,

“I won’t, I won’t go looking for it but if I happen to see it then…I won’t sit still if I know I can do something about it.” He looked straight into the other’s eyes, a resolute stare in his own. “We’ll be late…” 

“Stay here.” Seungmin said suddenly and rushed out the restroom only to return a few minutes later, a small medical kit and what looked like a compact of some kind both held in one hand. 

“Here, there should be ointment in there and this is a cushion foundation I borrowed from a girl in my class, who gave me weird looks by the way, so make sure to return it to me.” Seungmin handed over the items. Jeongin shot him a look of gratitude. 

A moment of silence passed until Seungmin stepped forward and tucked Jeongin’s chin upward, leaning down to leave a soft peck where a bruise had blossomed, closer to the corner of his mouth. 

“Hurry up ok?” Seungmin whispered, face still close.

He left the restroom, and in that restroom was a wide eyed, blushing mess named Jeongin, who remained frozen still for a few seconds until he remembered that the bell had already rung a while ago and he needed to move faster.

ღ 

**[3:30] pm**

**Channie hyung:** Heyy innie I’m so sorry but I don’t think I’ll be able to pick you up today either

**Me:** No problem. Dont worry about it :)

**Channie hyung :** Hey why don’t you invite Seungmin over? or do something together? 

**Me:** Hmm

**Me:** I’ll see

**Channie hyung:** Get back to class!!

**Me:** You too

**Channie hyung:** ¬.¬

 

Remembering the messages he exchanged earlier in the day with his brother, Jeongin decided to take Chan’s advice and asked Seungmin to meet him on the sidewalk where he usually stood at the end of the day. Even if Jeongin wasn’t sure how to face the other after the peck he received in the restroom, he willed himself not let himself become flustered anyway and act as natural as he possibly could. 

Soon, Seungmin was walking over to him with a bright smile, as he usually did when he saw Jeongin.

“Hey, classes alright?” He asked casually.

“Yeah nothing special, Miss Kim made me solve most problems on the board even when I wasn’t raising my hand and I don’t get it there are 20 other people in that class do they just vanish when it’s time to answer?? But she did ask Jisung to go up on the board! Bet she wanted to embarrass him or something but he did it right! He paused here and there but he still got it, binnie hyung woulda been proud. History gave a pop quiz and I’m just glad I revised that part on my own or I would have had a meltdown.” Seungmin rolled his eyes at the end of tangent. 

Jeongin realized, while Seungmin was talking, that it wasn’t that hard to try and act natural. It was easy being around Seungmin. He didn’t even feel himself smiling as he listened to the other.

“You said Chan hyung can’t pick you up?” Seungmin asked, head tilted and eyes shining.

Jeongin understood where the ‘pup’ nickname originated from in that moment.

“Uh huh.” Jeongin looked away shortly before returning his eyes to look at Seungmin. “Uhm, I feel like this sounds kinda weird but, uh, you see- and you can totally say no to this-”

“Jeongin.” 

“Yes?”

“You can just tell me outright, whatever it is I promise I won’t think it’s weird or judge you for it. Now speak freely innie.” Seungmin reassured. 

Jeongin took a deep breath, “Ok. I want to walk you home and maybe if you allow it, get a look at your room so I can teleport to you whenever it’s needed.” He said all in one breath. 

Seungmin blinked, processing what the boy in front of him said. The his lips split into a bright smile,

“A-alright” 

ღ 

Seungmin opened the door for Jeongin, singing “ta-dang~” as he did so.

“My sister is at an academy and mom’s still at work so we’re all alone for now. You hungry?” Seungmin asked as he dropped his backpack by his desk and removed his uniform jacket. 

“Uh a little.” Jeongin walked in further and sat at the foot of the bed, his eyes darting around all over the room. All over the dark navy walls, all over the tidiness. This is so like him Jeongin thought to himself.

“I’ll bring you some fruits.” 

 

Jeongin got up to examine the shelves that hung on the right side of the window. Certificates, books and a few relics and framed family pictures, he noticed there was no sign of another male in the house in said pictures. 

Something that stood out to him though, was a wooden music box that took the shape of a piano. He reached out for it, admiring it before taking the handle and turning it.

He listened as a sweet almost nostalgic sound echoed through the room. It started off a hopeful melody that slowly transformed into something sadder, like that hope was vanishing. It was like listening to a story, the pace picking up somewhere in the middle and slowing back down. It continued on, as it became a more mournful melody that for some reason had Jeongin feeling unhappy. 

“It sounds so sad huh?” 

Jeongin jumped at Seungmin’s voice, he never even heard him return.

“Looks like it got you emotional.” He gave a small smile, commenting on the melancholic expression on Jeongin’s face. “I shed a tear the first time I heard it hehe.” He placed a fruit bowl on his desk. 

“I have to ask,” Seungmin started, leaning on the desk. The light coming from the window right behind him casting shadows on his thoughtful face.

“Have you ever done something like that with your powers? Helping someone else that was in need?” 

A beat of silence before Jeongin replied, “Before you, honestly, no. I’ve always been so scared of being found out, of being cast out or feared even that I just never dared to do anything with it unless it was for my convenience. I was never brave enough.” Jeongin sighed “In short, I’ve been selfish.”

“That’s not fair to you Jeongin…” Seungmin spoke softly. 

“I think you’re wrong.” Jeongin looked straight to Seungmin as he said this. “But I helped someone, twice now!” He gestured vaguely to Seungmin.

“I know you told me not to look for trouble, but I kind of want to…” He said sheepishly.

“You’re a little dumb, but you are brave. And definitely not selfish.” Seungmin placed a hand on Jeongin’s shoulder, before shoving it lightly. “Just, I don’t know, don’t get yourself killed superhero” Seungmin chuckled.

Seungmin truly believed that the boy standing beside him was a courageous one. Jeongin was brave enough to face his fears of rejection and broke his habit of isolating himself, brave enough to face bullies, brave enough to jump in front of a car to save someone else.

Jeongin was brave. He just needed to be reminded of it, and Seungmin would take on that duty willingly. 

ღ 

Later in the evening, when Jeongin left and Seungmin had just finished showering, he was stopped in his tracks at the stairs as he saw his sister, Heemin, at the foot of of the stairs, holding onto a shirt he recognized to be his father’s. 

“Seungmin…” She croaked out, voice so quiet and timid and Seungmin knew something was up. 

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

“I know we should be over this already and just…I saw one of dad’s shirts in my closet while I was cleaning it out the other day…it still smelled like him and I,I-” Heemin’s lips quivered. 

Seungmin could feel something in him click, like a switch in him was flicked on at the sight of his little sister on the verge of tears. A switch with a big label above it that read ‘Big Brother Mode’.

So he ran down the stairs towards her, then gently took her in his arms in a hug.

“Nobody said we had to be ‘over’ it, it’s ok for you to still be upset. I know I am. I’m, I’m mad at him and I don’t think I’ll ever stop being mad.” Seungmin said, patting her head and willing himself not to allow any tears fall. 

“But remember one thing Heemin-ah, you are never not worth loving” He reminded her and she broke down harder at those words, maybe that was exactly what she needed to hear.

“You’ve always been your best and he didn’t have the right to make you or any of us feel any other way. He doesn’t matter anymore, it’ll take years before we can put that thought into practice but look at us! he’s been gone for so long and we’ve been doing great! He’s not worth your tears anymore ok?” Seungmin pulled away, grabbing Heemin by the shoulders and grinning wide. As if to really show her that they’ve accomplished a lot without him. Granted, it was difficult at times but they had each other and that was all that mattered. 

Together, they folded that button up shirt and put it where it belonged, in a box where the rest of their father’s belongings were, in a small storage closet beside the staircase. 

The siblings spent the rest of their night on the couch, watching their favorite show together in a comforting silence. 

ღ 

Jisung had received a test back that day. A math test. And sure, it was much better than any of his previous ones but he’d barely passed it. So he thought to ask Changbin for another tutoring session. 

If it was just so he could spend time in Changbin’s presence, he never mentioned it.

Changbin suggested that the other come over to his home, claiming that they could hang out a little bit afterwards. 

As Jisung stepped into the luxurious apartment, he let out a small “Wow…” 

Changbin scratched the name of his neck as he smiled shyly. The senior lived there with his parents, he was an only child and his parents were working most of the time. So the place was usually all his.

After placing snacks and drinks on the dinning table for the two to reach for, they settled down to get started on the tutoring. 

Jisung and Changbin sat next to each other on the long dinning table. 

Truthfully, Changbin never understood why the table was so long growing up, he figured maybe it was just to cover some of the empty space, maybe at some point his parents wanted more than just one kid, but he never really bothered to ask. 

As Changbin took to explaining formulas and such to Jisung, the former couldn’t help but be in awe of the senior. How he managed to make things so much simpler for Jisung amazed him. 

A while later, Changbin wrote down some practice problems for Jisung, each one tackled an idea Jisung didn’t grasp well before. 

“And by the way, congrats on that 53 from your quiz. That’s an amazing improvement.” Changbin said, smiling softly at the other. He was proud of him for improving, sure he was of help but in the end Jisung was the one to spend the night before studying for it. “You did good.”

“Thanks, senpai.” Jisung winked, making Changbin look him up and down before chucking an eraser to his face. 

“I think you meant sensei you clown” Changbin said as he moved to the chair across from Jisung.

“I need more space.” He explained once he noticed Jisung’s questioning eyes. 

Jisung looked to the equations in front of him, thinking back to what Changbin said as he wrote them for him, 

“The only way you can properly study for a math test is doing practice problems, you should do them after every new thing you learn so you can master it instead of waiting until exams or a pop quiz to bite you in the ass.” And that made sense. But Jisung didn’t make any promises of sitting down and solving equations everyday after school.

He’d gotten half way through them, albeit slowly, he was getting there. However, he was stopped by one that he’d solved, then erased midway because he missed a step, then tried again and realized he was using the wrong formula. 

Jisung huffed out in frustration, gripping tightly to his calculator. 

Then, the poor helpless calculator broke to pieces. 

“Shit!” Jisung hissed as he stared at the remains of what was a perfectly functioning calculator spill onto the table. 

Changbin’s head rose at the sound and stared at Jisung in confusion, his eyebrows furrowed. What threw Changbin off more however, was the panic he could clearly see in the other’s eyes, as if caught red handed doing something he wasn’t supposed to. 

“How did you do that?” He asked.

“Uh I’m I don’t know how that happened…I guess I’ve dropped it too many times and it got weak haha” Jisung tried laughing in the end, still it came out artificial. Only adding to Changbin’s apprehensiveness. 

“It didn’t look like it was falling apart how the hell did that happen?” Changbin questioned further. 

“Weird huh?” Jisung chuckled out.

Changbin didn’t keep pressing for the truth, it could have been true that Jisung didn’t know and the panic he thought he saw in Jisung’s eyes earlier could have been him freaking out about the weird occurrence.

The mess of calculator guts was cleaned up, but Changbin remained suspicious.

ღ 

**[10:02] pm**

**Bin:** J i s u n g

**Sungie:** Wussap

**Bin:** How did you do that to your calculator???

**Sungie:** dUde Let it go!!

**Sungie:** u really gotta know tho?

**Bin:** So you do know?

**Sungie:** I have a superpower.

**Bin:** Are you for real? You’re not kidding right?

**Sungie:** Holy hell u fell for it

**Sungie:** sdjalidjao

**Bin:** Hey not funny.

**Sungie:** ur so gullible hyung

**Sungie:** Cute

**Bin:** Whatever

**Bin:** Sleep heathen

**Sungie:** mmhhm Night night~ Changbinnie~

**Bin:** disrespectful!!

**Sungie:** <3<3

 

Changbin stared up at the ceiling, huffing out as he laid his hands back down on the bed. He then placed his phone on the nightstand but clicked his tongue when he couldn’t find the book he always read before going to sleep on said nightstand where it usually was. 

He sat up a little, eyeing his desk and saw the book atop his desk on the other side of him. He didn’t remember placing it there, he thought it could have been Jisung when he was showing him around. 

Too lazy and too comfortable to get up and walk all three feet to his desk, Changbin lifted a hand up in the air, aimed in the book’s direction and in no time the desired item was floating in the air until it made contact with his hand.

Changbin settled against the headboard, opened its pages and continued to read its contents until he felt his eyes getting heavier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> find me on tumblr! @felixmahdork


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay!! I was meant to post this on Tuesday but it still needed a l o t of editing and I wasn't motivated to do so for a couple of days oops  
> Hope you enjoy this chapter~ I'll try to get the next chap out by next Saturday but no promises cause that chapter is going to be much longer than the rest ^-^

**[1:07] pm**

**Sungie:** howdy ;)

 **Bin:** Did you srsly just say howdy? with a winky face?

 **Jeongin:** That’s an interesting way to greet someone

 **Sungie:** OR !! u could say hi back?? 

**Sungie:** whatever,, i was gonna say smth,,

 **Seungminnie:** If u started with howdy I really don’t have high hopes…

 **Jeongin:** lol 

**Sungie:** seungmean shut up let me talk >:(

 **Jeongin:** Dont tell him to shut up ://

 **Sungie:** WhippED

 **Bin:** Whipped.

 **Jeongin:** WHAT

 **Seungminnie:** lsakjdsakldj

 **Sungie:** BACK TO THE POINT 

**Sungie:** WHY DONT WE ALL HANG OUT

 **Bin:** You said something not dumb I guess

 **Sungie:** CHANGBIN HYUNG STOP BEING A HOE

 **Bin:** I was going to invite all of you over but you’re not included Jisung

 **Sungie:** Ahh~~ hyuung~~ don’t be like that~~ (●´□`)♡

 **Jeongin:** Thats disturbing,,

 **Sungie:** MAknae I will come for you

 **Seungminnie:** Get through me first :)

 **Sungie:** w h ipped

 **Bin:** Whipped.

 **Seungminnie:** klajda;da;d I don’t have much going on today I can come over

 **Bin:** Jeongin?

 **Jeongin:** Yeah ok. It’ll be nice to hang out outside of school.

 

Getting dressed wasn’t a problem, Jeongin could pride himself on being able to put together an outfit he could feel comfortable in but still look decent. It was styling his own hair that was the issue. Jeongin had been standing in front of the mirror for a few minutes with no clue as to how he should sort out the bird’s nest sitting on his head.

A gentle knock at his bedroom door pulled his attention away from his reflection. 

Woojin walked in, a warm smile on his lips. 

“Hiya innie.” 

“Woojin Hyung, what’s up?” 

“Well Channie said you were meeting up with some friends and I was gonna offer you a ride since I’m headed out now, but I think I should offer my help with your hair first.” He said as he continued to walk towards him.

Jeongin pouted and turned back to the mirror,

“Is it that bad?” He picked at a strand of his hair that was somehow standing up.

“I was only teasing,” He laughed out before leaning closer, “I’ve seen Chan in much worse conditions.” 

Jeongin snorted, nodding his head in acknowledgment. Nothing could match Chan’s unruly curls in the morning. 

“Here,” 

Woojin pulled the other by the elbow and brought him to Chan’s room where the owner of the room had his back against the headboard of his double bed, tapping away at his laptop’s keyboard. 

“Don’t mind us, finish that essay.” Woojin said, pointing his chin to the laptop. Chan eyed the two for a second, then shrugged and did as he was told. 

Woojin sat the younger boy on a chair and went to work.

Minutes later, of which Woojin had tried his absolute best to brush Jeongin’s hair gently, running his fingers through his hair with a serum he’d given to Chan before and using a mini flat iron to style it a little better, Jeongin’s hair was now much softer and much more presentable. 

“Thanks hyung, you really didn’t have to.”

“Nonsense! Now, tell me more about these friends!” Woojin asked, tone enthusiastic as he put away the flatiron.

“Yeah, I’ve only ever heard of Seungmin, he’s the only one I’ve met too.” Chan raised his head from the screen, causing Woojin to snap his head in his direction,

“Are you done with that essay yet?” 

Chan clicked his tongue and focused back on the screen, shuffling down on his so only his head rested on the headboard. 

Jeongin bit back a smile, amused at the interaction. 

“Well, there’s Kim Seungmin, older than me, all of them are but Changbin hyung is a senior. Uhm actually, Changbin hyung was the first one I met, he showed me around on the first day, he’s his class’s president I think, or something like that.” 

“Ahh I was too, I already like him.” Woojin commented, almost proudly. 

“And then Seungmin, I ran into him in the convenience store twice and at the movies once too.”

“But he still wasn’t his friend back then.” Chan added, Jeongin letting out a little ‘stop’ at the mention of it.

“Your essay, Channie.” Woojin chided.

“You’re having a conversation in my room what did you expect?” 

Woojin gave him a look, and the other went back to his essay looking defeated but in an irked kind of way, eyebrows pulling together and lips pouting. 

Jeongin wondered for a brief moment how Woojin had that power over his brother. 

“Yeah anyway, after the second time I bumped into him at the convenience store we exchanged numbers and just started getting closer after that. Jisung, Han Jisung came to the table one day with Changbin hyung and we all just hit if off. Oh and he has blue hair too!” 

“They sound great. I’m proud of you innie, I’m glad you’re branching out and making more friends.” Woojin extended his arm and ruffled the younger’s hair but retracted it after he realized it would mess up his work. 

“Thanks hyung.” Jeongin smiled shyly.

“Also, you don’t need to drop me off I uh, told Seungmin I’d meet up with him and he would lead the way to Changbin’s place.”

“You sure?”

Jeongin reassured the older with a nod of his head. He thanked Woojin again before he padded over to his own room. 

“I’m done!” 

He heard Chan cheer as he entered his room and some applause from Woojin.

ღ 

Pulling his shirt over his head and turning around, Seungmin jumped into the wall, a picture nearly falling off the shelves behind him as Jeongin appeared at the front of his bed.

Maybe Jeongin caught a glimpse of Seungmin’s back as he arrived, but looked away as soon as he realized it.

Seungmin clutched his chest through his shirt,

“Jesus” He breathed out slowly.

“Sorry! I forgot to text you first but I was already doing it when I remembered…” Jeongin said sheepishly. 

“No, no it’s fine. Just uh, ok I’m fine.” Seungmin chuckled at himself before grabbing a jacket and heading for the door. 

“Come on, let’s go! Jisung’s on his way over there.” 

Seungmin smiled, quickly recovering from the scare he received and held Jeongin from his wrist. 

“Hyung, should we bring something with us? Like drinks or something?” Jeongin asked as he let Seungmin drag him down the stairs. Seungmin turned to him,

“Sound like a nice idea, I’m sure he’ll appreciate it. We can get some soda on the way.” 

“Seung- Oh hello.”

A girl, who looked younger than them, stopped in the hallway beside the staircase then greeted Jeongin respectfully. 

“Hello, I’m Bang Jeongin.” He greeted back.

“Ahh, Kim Heemin! His precious little sister!” 

“Mom is coming home soon but you’re sure you’ll be fine alone?” 

“Yes, yes, see you later. It was nice to meeting you!” She said cheerfully, speeding past them into the kitchen. 

 

The bus arrived and the two got on board to see that they would be sitting on a rather empty bus. 

Jeongin had taken the window seat, his head leaning on the glass, admiring the town scenery as it whizzed by. The sun was setting and Jeongin couldn’t ignore the hues of purple and pink washing over the buildings, hints of a yellow sun remaining on the very tops of said buildings.

The two didn’t really exchange conversation, but it wasn’t a silence that made either of them feel the need to break it. Then Seungmin tapped Jeongin’s shoulder, steeling his attention away from the window. 

“Listen with me?” He tilted his head, holding up an earbud for Jeongin to take. 

“Sure.” Jeongin didn’t smile big, but Seungmin definitely saw a twinkle in his eyes. 

For the rest of the ride, the boys listened to a playlist of what Seungmin introduced as lofi hip hop. Knees touching, arms brushing and hidden smiles on each of their faces. 

Jeongin leaned on the other’s shoulder, Seungmin reciprocating by placing his own head atop the younger’s, rubbing his cheeks slightly on the soft hair.

Seungmin let out a whisper, not that he had to worry anybody else would hear, it was just them, a lady at the very back and the bus driver (who may or may not have sneaked a look at the two and smiled to himself), 

“I’m glad you don’t know the way to bin hyung’s.”

At first, Jeongin didn’t get it. Then he did, and he was grateful the other couldn’t see the faint blush creeping up his neck.

ღ 

Tip tap, tip tap

The increasing volume of heels clicking against the floor told Changbin that his mother was walking his way.

“Changbin, honey, please clean your room it’s a mess.” 

“Yes ma’am, I’ll get to it.” 

She sighed, adjusting her blazer. 

“I’ll be coming home late tonight, have fun with your friends but please-”

“Relax mom. What’s the worse we could do?”

“Alright. I trust you. Call me if you need anything.” She walked over to her son, placing a kiss to the top of his head.

And then she was gone. 

The boy sighed as he watched his mother exit the kitchen. As much as Changbin wanted to be resentful of his parents for never really being around, he couldn’t, even when there were plenty times he sat at that long dinning table all alone for most of his meals. Because he knew they did care and they were trying very hard to stay home more often. So Changbin decided he didn’t want that kind of hate in his heart, didn’t want to hold a grudge against the people that tried their best. And if he thought of it hard enough, he knew that other kids with the same type of workaholic parents weren’t as lucky.

 

Jisung tapped his foot to the rhythm of the music playing in the elevator. Lips in a tight line as he waited to reach Changbin’s floor. 

The doors slid open and he walked out gingerly, headed to the condo. 

Jisung was nervous, he’d managed to get Changbin to stop questioning him about the calculator incident. But he didn’t know how he would explain it if another incident took place. He was going to be as careful as he could be.

Just as he was about to ring the bell, a lady dressed in formal attire opened it and paused at the sight of him, eyes immediately drawn to the still vibrant head of blue hair.

Jisung quickly retracted his hand and clasped them together in front of him, going to bow and greet the lady at the door he assumed to be Changbin’s mother, judging from the similarity her pout had to Changbin’s.

“H-hi, I’m Han Jisung. Changbin’s friend…?” Somehow it came out like a question and Jisung had half the mind to face palm himself right there.

“Oh! Yes come on in!” She said.

Perhaps Jisung was taken aback, he’d thought the women would be much more stoic, but she had a friendly smile and a warm tone in her voice. Jisung made a mental not that he needed to learn to stop judging people by their resting faces.

“You’ll find him in his bedroom, please excuse the mess in there. I’ll be off now. Make yourself at home Jisung-ssi.” She waved goodbye and finally walked out. 

Jisung took slipped out of his sneakers and proceeded to make his way to Changbin’s bedroom, his socks muting his the sound of his footsteps. He thought it funny to try and sneak up on his friend when he noticed this. 

The door was left ajar and he pushed the door lightly as he entered.

Whatever plans of a jump scare he had in mind flew right out the window the second he laid his eyes on the sight in front of him. 

Changbin stood at the center of the room his hands up and looked as if he was directing things around the room. And for a moment, Jisung thought he was hallucinating.

Because the empty cans and bags of chips on the desk were somehow going into the trashcan on their own and the blanket was folding itself in mid air. 

“Whoa…” He breathed out.

Then the cans missed their aim and cluttered to the ground and the blanket undid itself and landed somewhere near the bookcase, there may have been a crash somewhere in that area but Changbin would worry about that later.

Eyes wide like a dear caught in headlights, Changbin looked horrified at the fact that he just got caught. 

“H-how did you, how did you even-” Changbin mumbled.

“Your mom, she, she uh let me in…” Jisung replied at the unfinished question, voice quiet and careful.

Changbin tried to form words, just one proper sentence, he really did. But at that point a fly could have entered his mouth and still he wouldn’t have closed his mouth. 

How was he going to explain this? How was he going to find a way out of this? Should he just tell the truth? There was no turning back anyway right, so-

“Hyung.” Jisung called out. 

Changbin was caught off guard, becoming confused at what he could only assume to be a warm smile on Jisung’s lips. To make things even more odd, the other began to chuckle.

“So I’m not the only weirdo around…” he said quietly and Changbin was again, at a loss for words. 

A few more beats of silence passed.

And then the memory of recent messages exchanged between the two, and crumbling bits of a calculator flash in his mind. It began to make a little bit more sense. 

Changbin beamed as the puzzle pieces came together. 

“I knew it!! That thing with the calculator!!” 

Jisung laughed at the excitement of the older and answered before Changbin could ask,

“Super strength. I guess.” He then waved off the small ‘whoa’ Changbin had let out.

“Does anybody know about yourr…telekinee..sis?” Jisung pointed questioningly at Changbin, his eyebrows quirking up as he tried to find the right name for it.

The grin on Changbin’s face sized down just a bit before he replied,

“No one,” He sighed, “Not even Seungmin.” 

“That’s surprising you two are so close…What are you afraid of?”

“Afraid? I’m not afraid.” Changbin scoffed, eyebrows furrowing. Still Jisung stepped closer, hands in his pocket and something in his eyes that made Changbin spill anyway. He looked away and continued, lips pulled downwards in a pout, 

“it’s just weird…I mean we’ve been close since middle school. I know I have nothing to really be afraid of, he’s always been there for me and I’ll always be by his side….I’m not sure what it is I just don’t think I could tell him…”

Jisung opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell going off.

“This conversation isn’t over.” Jisung said, reaching to put his arm around Changbin’s shoulder and walking out to welcome the other two.

The door was opened wide to a grinning Seungmin and Jeongin. 

“Took you long enough!” Jisung commented before grabbing the two of them by their sleeves and pulling them inside.

“We were getting soda hyung, sorry.” Jeongin replied.

Jisung cooed at the youngest, brushing off his apology and letting him know it was ok.

 

Soon all four of them were huddled together on the couch, half opened snacks and drinks spread out on the coffee table and an animated movie playing on the flat-screen TV. 

At some point in the beginning of the movie Changbin had his arm around Jisung and had pulled him closer. Jisung took notice of the fact that Changbin wasn’t shy when it came to skin-ship.If he was comfortable with someone, he always had to have some sort of contact with that person. Be it a brushing of hands or straight up draping his arm over the other’s shoulders. Not that Jisung was complaining, he was the same way.

To Jeongin’s surprise, he’d been pulled by Jisung mid-movie so his back was against Jisung’s chest. At first he felt awkward but quickly subjected to the other’s warmth and allowed himself to snuggle further in his arms. Missing the way Seungmin pouted at the sight, but smiled when he realized that Jeongin was comfortable enough around them for impromptu cuddles.

Later as the movie ended, they’d all gotten up to stretch their bodies momentarily. 

“I still can’t believe Jisung actually cried.” Seungmin scoffed as he stretched his arms above his head and heard a small crack from his back. 

“Shut up, Tadashi deserved better!” He defended himself. 

The doorbell sounded from down the hallway and Changbin jumped up to answer it, later returning with two boxes of pizza.

“Food!!” Jisung chanted.

A while later, the slices of pizza were long gone and chatter filled the air. Changbin, aided by his friends, collected the boxes and empty cans of soda as the conversation went on. They’d been talking about some show that got cancelled, Seungmin complaining that it was a crime against humanity before Changbin interrupted quickly,

“You guys choose another movie to watch, I’ll just go throw this away.” He said, leisurely walking over to the kitchen with Jisung -quite adorably, one might say- padding behind him.

“Hyung!” Jisung whisper-shouted once they were inside the kitchen, startling Changbin slightly as he hadn’t heard the younger following him. Before Changbin got the chance to open his mouth, Jisung continued,

“Hyung, I get the feeling you’ll freak but….why don’t you tell Seungmin now?” 

“What?! Are you insane??” Changbin retorted.

“I saw that coming.” Jisung pressed his lips into a thin smile, blinking a few times. 

Changbin forcefully shoved down the boxes of pizza as he spoke again, he voice lower in volume,

“No way! It’s way too soon sung! I’m not even over you knowing how am I gonna break it to my best friend?”

“You can wait till Jeongin leaves and I can go too if you want, and you said you didn’t have a reason to be afraid.” He suggested, trying his best to sound as convincing as possible.

“No, Jisung I mean it. I’m not telling Seungmin, not now at least”

And the discussion was left at that. But neither of them realized Seungmin had been standing right at the archway to the kitchen but hidden behind the wall, able to hear the words exchanged between the two. 

He’d decided not to confront Changbin right away, not that he was particularly mad but it did make him feel bad that his best friend would hesitate before opening up to him about something.

The two return to the living room and smile to themselves at the sight of Jeongin with his legs over Seungmin’s lap, back rested on the arm rest as Seungmin played with the younger’s hands, both watching yet another animated movie.

 

“It’s getting pretty late. I should head home.” Jeongin said, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He’d gotten pretty drowsy as the movie went on, what with Seungmin rubbing circles onto the back of his hand so soothingly, trying to fight off the sleep would have been a losing battle.

“Yeah I should leave too.” Seungmin stretched his arms, this time reaching down for his toes as he spoke.

Changbin nodded in understanding and walked them to the door alongside Jisung who hadn’t mentioned anything about leaving yet.

He pulled the two into a bone crushing hug before they left, leaving Jeongin to wonder how Changbin managed to be so strong despite his small size. But he knew better than to say that out loud.

Jisung bid them goodnight, and was surprised to receive a hug from each of them respectively but was quick to give them both a squeeze back.

ღ 

As they stepped out of the elevator, Jeongin grabbed Seungmin’s hand and lead the way as he found the door to a badly lit emergency exit.

“What are you-”

“I’m taking you home.” Jeongin smiled, dimples and braces on display. 

“Don’t you get tired? I mean like, doesn’t it drain your energy?” Seungmin asked, eyes blinking as he waited for an answer.

“It used to, when I was younger, or if I did long distances. But I’ve gotten better now. I’m sure if I teleported too many times at once it would get me tired. But twice in a row isn’t so bad.” He explained thoughtfully, lips going into a pout unknowingly. Seungmin nodded at the explanation.

“What about when you were dealing with those bullies?” 

“I’m pretty sure I overslept the next morning cause it tired me out, I didn’t really notice it at the time.”

“Probably the adrenaline…” Seungmin suggested as an explanation, head tilting in thought before,

“Also I can’t believe I got my first cuddles rights taken away from me!” Seungmin exclaimed abruptly, causing Jeongin to furrow his brows.

“First cuddles rights? Huh?” 

“Jisung got to cuddle you first! That’s not fair…” He complained.

Despite usually feeling shy at such words, Jeongin felt himself becoming smug as he realized what the other was talking about and thought maybe this would be perfect time for revenge.

“Well, what if you got something else instead?” His smile got bigger, a sneaky look in his eyes.

Seungmin had opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Jeongin stepping closer, then placing a soft kiss to his cheek. It lasted a second but it was enough to send Seungmin into what he could only call ‘gay panic’, heat rushing to his cheeks at an incredible speed. He was grateful that it was dark where they were.

“U-uhm, yeah ok, that’s yeah uh-” Seungmin spluttered, trying to get a grip on himself.

“Let’s go hyung. Eyes.”

Seungmin blinked a few more times before understanding that Jeongin was asking him to close his eyes and did as he was told.

When the two opened their eyes again, they were back in Seungmin’s bedroom. 

It was when Jeongin let go of his hand, that Seungmin realized they’d been holding hands for that entire time. Not that he was complaining. 

Clearing his throat, Seungmin went to turn on the lights as he spoke,

“Text me when you get back, alright?”

“Of course, see you minnie” Jeongin said as he waved goodbye. Quickly disappearing from the other’s sight. 

Minnie 

Seungmin screeched as he jumped onto his bed. He hugged his pillow tightly, laying on his back and kicking his legs in the air. 

“Ugh Bang Jeongin.” He muttered to himself after calming down.

It’d been nearly month since the first time he met Jeongin and the difference between that day and this moment blew Seungmin’s mind away. From barely making eye contact to getting a kiss on the cheek. Seungmin was all giddy inside from the unfamiliar feeling in his stomach. It was like something flying around in there and he wasn’t all that bothered by it. Seungmin wasn’t dumb nor was he one to be in denial. 

Facts are facts, and the fact was; Seungmin had not so platonic feelings for Jeongin. 

ღ 

Changbin dropped down on the couch, eyeing Jisung who’d sat down rather cautiously next to him with one foot folded under the other.

“You mad at me?” Jisung asked, voice quiet. 

“No.” Changbin sighed, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. He turned his head back to Jisung,

“But I don’t get it, why did you think that was the time for me to tell him?”

Jisung huffed out some air, making the blue strands of hair resting on his forehead fly up momentarily before flopping back down,

“I was being sort of selfish not gonna lie. I just thought that if you told Seungmin then I could tell Seungmin.” He took his eyes off the ground and looked at Changbin, immediately averting his eyes as soon as he saw the other’s focused gaze.

“I’ve never been actually close with anyone before, and I know I’ve only known you people for a couple of weeks but I just have this gut feeling that I can trust you guys. Hey, maybe I’m just desperate for some sort of companionship and I’ll end up getting way too attached way too soon, but I like you guys a lot. And I would love it if I could be completely myself around all of you. God I really don’t know if I’m making any sense right now.” He chuckled, looking down to the ground as he kicked his foot lightly in the air. 

Changbin leaned back, shuffling so he sat closer to the other and rested his head on Jisung’s shoulder.

“You made perfect sense.” He looked up to Jisung, admiring his side profile before continuing,

“For a long time it’s just been Seungmin and I. Sure we had mutual friends and the likes, but now you and Jeongin are part of our daily lives and I promise you, it’s not a mistake to get attached to us so quickly. Cause the feeling’s mutual, and we love having you around. We’ll tell them one day, we will. And we’ll do it together.” He placed a hang above Jisung’s knee. Changbin was speaking near his ear, voice just above a whisper and Jisung couldn’t stop the shiver that went down his spine at the proximity of his voice.

Jisung turned his head slightly, eyes making contact with Changbin’s. And they stayed that way for a bit until Jisung pulled away and sat straighter.

“So I’m not in trouble?” 

Changbin shook his head with a laugh. 

“Alright! now show me the stuff you can do!!” Jisung said excitably.

Laughing once again at the younger’s excitement, Changbin lifted his hand in the air as he moved some pillows in the air.

Jisung whined, catching Changbin off guard, the pillows falling back to where they used to be. He looked to the other in confusion,

“That’s laame I saw that already. Show me something cool! Hey how about you move me!” He bounced up and out of his seat, Changbin standing up in front of him.

“What? No what if I hurt you?” 

“Then be careful.” Came Jisung’s reply, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. 

Changbin rolled his eyes as he lead Jisung to stand behind the couch, where there was more space. 

His hand was in the air again and with it, Jisung’s feet were off the ground. He’d been hovering over the ground for the first few seconds until he was brought higher into the air with a raise of Changbin’s hand.

“Whoa…this is so cool.” He whispered out, fascination written all over Jisung’s face. 

The younger began to giggle as Changbin spun him around in the air swiftly, slowly bringing him closer. 

“It…doesn’t hurt?”

“Not at all! It just feels like some force moving me around, like, like gravity but you’re controlling it.” Jisung tried his best to describe.

As Changbin pondered on Jisung’s sentence, he realized he’d never really done any proper research about his ability. He knew whatever information he’d find would be mostly fiction, still it wouldn’t hurt to do so anyway.

Not realizing he’d let his thoughts wonder, his control on Jisung became unsteady. The younger’s squeaks as he was getting closer to the ceiling gaining his attention back.

Jisung was pulled back down roughly, coming to a halt right in front of Changbin. He’d hovered there for a second until the older released him, resulting in a yelp and a Jisung in his arms.

“I got you, blue.” Changbin chuckled, the nickname rolling off his tongue without being completely aware of it. “Your turn.” He said, letting go of Jisung who had a small smile playing on his lips.

The boy scanned the room and thought of ways he could show his abilities without causing any irreversible destruction.

He walked over to the L shaped couch they’d been lounging on the entire evening and continued to lift it up, holding it over his head with ease. 

Changbin gaped at the boy, Jisung was not much bigger in size than he was and yet his body held so much strength. 

“That’s awesome Sung.” He breathed out, astonished.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is so lOng for no reason other than the fact that I just wanted soft Seungmin and Jeongin rip  
> Word count is 6k+ this chap ^-^

_“It used to, when I was younger, or if I did long distances. But I’ve gotten better now. I’m sure if I teleported too many times at once it would get me tired. But twice in a row isn’t so bad.”_

Jeongin thought of his words from that weekend. It was a Friday night, Mr and Mrs Bang being out of town for a few days and Chan out with his college friends for the night, gave Jeongin the place all to himself.

Now was as good a time as any to test out a theory that had entered his mind since that night. He wondered, if he teleported multiple times in a row, without the rush of adrenaline he had in the past, would it make him tired? 

He got up from the couch of his living room, closing his eyes as he did so and opening them to see that he was in his bedroom. 

Continuously, he teleported from one corner of the apartment to another.

Jeongin didn’t feel any different as he did this, up until the eighth and ninth time when he became much more light headed than he would have liked. He stumbled in place as he opened his eyes, then leaned onto the wall.

One last time, he’d gone from the kitchen doorway back to the couch to lay down in a blink of an eye.

The feeling of cushions under his back were enough to let him know he did it as he kept his eyes closed this time, deciding to rest for now. He sighed, concluding that eight to ten times of teleporting back to back, was how many times it took before getting tired. 

But all drowsiness he’d felt evaporated at the sound of a thud, something dropped and it sounded like it came from the door to the apartment. 

Jeongin jumped up and out of his comfortable position only to pale as he saw Chan, standing at the doorway eyes wide and mouth seizing to form words, his hand in the air and his wallet fallen on the ground.

And suddenly Jeongin couldn’t breathe.

He’d been caught by his brother. He saw him use his ability. How was he going to explain it…

“H-how, how long, how long have y-yo”

“You– how? From there to here? and then before that you were at the kitchen? and then right in front of the TV? Jeongin, wow, oh my god how did you do that?” Chan rambled on.

No answer came from the boy in question. Too many voices were screaming in his head at once for him to focus on replying.

He’d seen him teleport not once, but twice. 

_I’ll be sent back_

_You’re a freak_

_I’m not normal_

_Now he knows that_

Chan took a step forward upon seeing the first few tears fall from the younger’s eyes but Jeongin flinched back. Chan didn’t have the time to say anything before Jeongin was out of sight right then and there.

“Jeongin! Wait come back it’s ok! Jeongin? Jeongin!” He shouted out, as he searched the kitchen, the bedrooms and the bathroom, hoping he would still be somewhere within the vicinity. 

Chan was too late, and it wasn’t long before he was drowning in worry and praying that Jeongin was ok. 

ღ 

Hunched over his desk, Seungmin was in full focus as he finished up the last bit of his homework. Sure it was a Friday, and he had all of that weekend to bother himself with it. But an odd wave of productivity took over him and he thought to get it out of the way so he could enjoy his weekend to the fullest. Well, not really, he’d still have more left to do later on, Still, at least a good chunk of it will have been dealt with.

He took off his glasses, arms stretched out above his head as he sighed. Glancing at his phone’s screen to check the time, it was nearly eleven. He’d finished up earlier than he thought and was fully prepared to just crash onto his bed and sleep the rest of the night away.

Until he heard gasping and panting followed by a thump somewhere behind him. 

Seungmin swiveled around in his desk chair, shocked at the sight of Jeongin, holding onto his knees, tears slowly falling from his eyes.

Panic was clearly written in Jeongin’s eyes as Seungmin all but rushed to his side, kneeling in front of him to get a look at him and holding onto him by the shoulders.

“Jeongin? What’s wrong?” He asked quietly, trying his best not to let his voice be tainted with the anxiety he felt.

“I-I, Chan- he he…” Jeongin breathed out.

Gently caressing the other’s cheek, using his thumb to wipe his tears, Seungmin whispered reassurances. He waited patiently for Jeongin to calm down even just a little. 

“He saw me Seungmin, he knows— oh my god I can’t breathe” Jeongin explained briefly before he hunched over further, completely relying on Seungmin to not pass out.

“Jeongin breathe, you’ll be ok, we’ll figure this out I promise.” Seungmin held onto him as he spoke and slowly walked with him over to the bed at the center of the room.

Seungmin sat the younger down, a hand remaining on his back.

“Alright, alright, deep breaths Innie. That’s it, just like that. You’re doing great, just focus on breathing.” 

Seungmin rubbed his back soothingly, counting the younger’s breaths for him. He would wait for Jeongin to talk later, but he needed him to be ok, to breathe and feel safe again.

Just as Jeongin begun to regulate his breathing so he wasn’t panting, his chest no longer tight, he spoke again,

“They’re gonna send me away” He couldn’t hold back the sob after he said it, choked and pained. Seungmin’s heart ached for the boy.

“They, they’re gonna think I’m- I’m a freak hyung” Jeongin hid his face with his palms.

Seungmin left his side to kneel in front of him and gently encircled Jeongin’s wrists, pulling his hands away from his face.

“Innie, bub, they love you. Chan loves you. He could never do that. I’m sure he was shocked, it’s not everyday you meet someone with an ability like yours.” Seungmin said softly, “We can talk more about that later if you want. But you’re alright now, ok? No one is going to hurt you, I’m here, I’m always here.” 

Suddenly, Seungmin found himself stumbling backwards, using his left arm to balance himself as Jeongin had leaped forward and thrown his arms around his shoulders, crying softly into the older’s shoulder.

A few minutes passed while they were like that, but Seungmin didn’t have the heart to move them even an inch, not until Jeongin was done. Even when his arms were tired and his knees ached from the crouching, he continued to hold that position.

Jeongin pulled himself away, sniffling and rubbing his eyes. 

“Wanna wash your face?” He suggested, the boy nodding in response. 

They walked quietly out the door after Seungmin assured Jeongin that his family was sound asleep, and guided him to the bathroom at the end of the hall.

He’d left Jeongin in the bathroom briefly, bringing a bottle of water with him when he returned.

Jeongin stepped out, eyes red and puffy. He avoided Seungmin’s eyes but Seungmin didn’t say anything, only grasped his hand in his own and walked him back to his bedroom. 

He offered Jeongin the bottle of cool water, and the boy took it gratefully before taking one long gulp of it. 

Smacking his lips together lightly, Jeongin stared at the carpet floor like it was the most interesting thing he’d ever seen.

“Can I, uhm-” Jeongin began to ask but Seungmin interrupted him, already knowing what was going to be asked,

“Of course, you can have the bed.” 

“No!” Jeongin snapped, his voice sounding louder than he intended. For a moment, he’d forgotten about the open bottle in his hands, some of its water sploshed onto the carpet. He looked away, embarrassed of his sudden outburst. 

Seungmin only titled his head.

“Can- can you sleep next to me?” Jeongin asked, coming out more like a whisper. He sounded so small and his voice was so low that if Seungmin hadn’t been giving him his full attention, he wouldn’t have heard it. 

Seungmin gave him a small smile before approaching the bed. He lifted the blanket, gesturing for Jeongin to make himself comfortable first. 

Jeongin placed the bottle down on the bedside table carefully then crawled under the covers.

Here’s the thing about Seungmin’s bed, it wasn’t exactly made for two people to sleep in it. He had tried to put space between them but his efforts were in vain as he found himself beginning to slide off the bed, prompting Jeongin to reach out and pull him closer. 

Eventually, the boys laid on their sides, face to face. Jeongin hadn’t said anything yet and Seungmin had a request to make, he just wasn’t sure if he should make it.

Still, he had to try,

“Jeongin…” He started softly, the boy humming back.

“I’m going to call Chan.”

“What? W-why?” 

“Shh, shh…” Seungmin’s hands went to cup the younger’s cheek as he’d begun to back away, the panic flaring back up.

“I just need to let him know that you’re safe, I’m sure he’s worried out of his mind. He doesn’t know where you are and it’s almost midnight, please Jeongin. If this were Heemin, I’d be losing my mind.” Seungmin said.

When Jeongin hadn’t replied or made any movement, he continued,

“Let me call him Bang Jeongin. He needs to know you’re safe, he’s your brother and he loves you.” 

Jeongin nodded silently, taking in the other’s words slowly. He pulled out his phone, to see that it’d been going off nonstop with texts and accompanied by notifications of five missed calls from the same person. Seungmin wondered how neither of them heard any of those notifications but just as quickly realized that the ringer must have been silent. As he was about to dial, the phone lit up again with a picture of a familiar face, and Jeongin quickly handed it over to Seungmin.

Seungmin sat up and leaned against the wall, swiping to answer, 

“Jeongin! Oh my god. Innie please tell me where you are, I’ll come get you, yeah? You’re ok, right?” Came Chan’s voice, tone so heavily tinged with worry. 

“Hey, Chan hyung, It’s Seungmin…” 

“S-Seungmin? Is, is he with you?” Seungmin didn’t miss the disappointment in the older’s voice, but he couldn’t be blamed.

“Yes, he is. He’s alright, he’s not hurt anywhere. Just…shocked.”

“Ok, thank god…Ca-can I talk to him?” 

Seungmin hesitated for a split second, glancing to Jeongin out of the corner of his eyes.

“I’m not sure hyung…”

“Just- put me on speaker?”

He did as he was told, placing the phone on the bed, closer to Jeongin.

“Go ahead hyung.” Seungmin said.

“Innie? Uh, I hope you’re ok and, and safe. I mean I guess you are if you’re with Seungmin but, fuck, ok. I love you, ok? Nothing could change that. Nothing. Sleep tight…” 

It seemed to Seungmin that Chan already understood Jeongin’s fears as he listened to him.

“I love you too.” Jeongin croaked out, hoping to catch him before Chan ended the phone call, and was relieved to hear a sigh on the other side.

The call ended, and the tears threatened to start up all over again behind Jeongin’s eyes. But he wouldn’t let them fall anymore, blinking furiously as he fought them.

Jeongin scooted closer as Seungmin settled back in the bed, and Seungmin figured that there wasn’t any harm in draping his arm on the younger’s waist. He was right, because Jeongin responded immediately by snuggling closer until his nose was brushing against Seungmin’s collar bone.

A few minutes of silence passed, Seungmin threading his fingers through Jeongin’s hair as they laid there, in the silence and darkness of the night, encased in each other’s warmth. 

“The first time someone found about my whole teleporting thing, I was still in Busan. In the orphanage. Some kid older than me saw me do it when I really had to go to the toilet, and I was just dumb enough to use my ability without thinking of the consequence of maybe being caught.” 

Seungmin didn’t understand why Jeongin was bringing it up, but if it was going to help the younger feel any better by doing so, he would listen intently.

“I was like, eight maybe, he was older than me by a year. At first I didn’t notice, how he looked at me when he saw me do it. Back then, I thought he was, I don’t know, impressed? or amazed? But looking back at it, it was like he found treasure. And you wouldn’t think it’s a bad thing at first but…it was. He realized right away that I was this, getaway ticket from the orphanage.” 

Jeongin talked calmly, retelling a tale of his childhood he thought he’d never talk about again. However, something in him just wanted to speak his thoughts out loud, feel a little lighter, and who better to confide in than Seungmin? The one who never, since the moment they met, judged him harshly. Even when he found out about his ability to teleport, Seungmin had jumped to reassure the other and made him feel safe. 

“Did I ever tell you how I ended up there in the first place?” He asked, Seungmin would have thought there was humor in his voice if he didn’t know better. He shook his head to answer Jeongin anyway.

“Well, I never met my mother. I assume she left when I was a baby. I- I never even knew her name until my dad died. He just didn’t like talking about her. But one day I asked my kindergarten teacher to be my mommy…Then I found out she left us and I cried cause I thought it was my fault…He kept saying that I didn’t deserve the mother I got, that I was too good for her and that’s why she left. He just kept telling me that it wasn’t my fault that she left. That she just didn’t know what she was missing out on.” 

“He was right about that…you’re amazing Jeongin.” Seungmin whispered, just above Jeongin’s ear.

The boy snuggled further into Seungmin’s arms at the words, then backed away slightly to continue speaking. 

“I was six when he, uh, passed away. It was a car accident. He was coming to get me from school and I ended up getting picked up by police officers. They didn’t tell me much other than the fact that my dad was hurt and they dropped me off at my neighbor’s. She was nice to me, but I could see the pity written all over her face…it annoyed me and I screamed at her not to look at me like that. Kept yelling and saying my dad was fine, that he would come get me as soon as he was feeling better. But he never did.” Jeongin said, tone becoming sadder and sadder with every word until his voice cracked, a lump sitting in his throat that he swallowed down. 

“That’s the first time I learned I could teleport. I was so upset when the police officers told me, I ran out of the house to the street and just kept running. I hid in some alley and just kept crying. I thought of that beach, remember it? I used to go there with my dad almost every month. I just wanted to go to my happy place. I did stop crying when I got there but I couldn’t figure out how I did it in the first place, so I kept walking till they found me again.”

“He was my everything Seungmin, I just wish t-that I could hug him and let him know that I’m grateful for everything he ever did for me…that I love him.” He took a deep breath.

“Jeongin…you don’t have to tell me all of this, if it’s bringing back too many bad memories…”

“I want to.” 

Seungmin kept silent. His fingers started threading through the boy’s soft hair and he waited for the other to continue,

“Then I stayed in an orphanage. Never really talked to anyone, played around with some kids but I was mostly quiet. I got found out by some jerk named Donghyuk. He started becoming my friend and sitting with me all the time, eight year old me thought he thought I was cool and that’s why he wanted to be my friend. So I took the bait. At first we’d teleport to fun places we’ve gone to before on trips with the rest of the kids in the orphanage. Like an arcade or the park.” Jeongin sighed, and Seungmin moved his arm to start gently massaging the other’s nape. 

“He asked me to get him out of there for good one day and when I told him I wouldn’t, he got so mad. He threatened to tell others about me but I wasn’t all that dumb and naive, I knew no one would believe him. So he resulted to making every kid in the orphanage hate me. Spreading rumors and picking on me, cause of course no one wanted to sit with the kid who ate bugs alive.” Jeongin chuckled bitterly. 

“It was lonely but I could handle it. When I didn’t give in he resorted to violence. I tried to convince him that it wasn’t so bad where we were, that even if we didn’t have parents anymore we still had someone to take care of us but he really lost it when I said that. He kept screaming about how his parents loved him and didn’t meant to leave him there, that he needed to get back to them. It made me feel bad for him, that didn’t last long though when he started getting violent. I called for help and it came…You know what pissed me off back then?” Jeongin looked up at Seungmin, who only looked back with wide eyes. 

“He got adopted a month later. Never seen him since. I don’t know how to feel about him honestly, whether to pity him or hate him. All I know is I couldn’t befriend anyone for years after that. Not until Hyunjin showed up.” He said wistfully, clearly reminiscing the past. He had been doing so until now, but now his tone sounded fonder.

“He’s the same age as you,” Jeongin informed him, glancing back up at Seungmin quickly before continuing, “I just turned nine when he got there. I felt really bad for him, he cried all the time and even wet the bed a few times. He was really scared. After like a week, he stopped crying and just kept to himself but during dinner time once, he was sobbing quietly to himself while eating and I just couldn’t leave him alone. The other kids wouldn’t go near him cause he would just scream at them but for some reason he let me sit and eat with him.” 

Jeongin went quiet for a few seconds, taking a few moments to collect his thoughts,

“We got closer after sharing more meals together. The other kids made fun of us cause we were the two loners that liked no one else but each other. But I don’t think that was bad, I didn’t know his story when I first sat down with him but I just felt like…we had a mutual understanding of some sort. He was funny…really kind too. We were basically best friends. Stuff happened with him and we almost separated but eventually he remained in the orphanage. Until that orphanage couldn’t keep running anymore and we were spread out and we lost contact. But when we were still in the same place we managed to get these matching rings.” Jeongin lifted up his hand, staring intently at it and Seungmin remembered him mentioning a good friend in the past. 

“The Bang family took me in, I was their foster kid for a few months until they asked me if I would like to be adopted. It was…weird. I wanted to say yes, but becoming a Bang felt like I was betraying my dad. After a while I realized that, sure my surname belongs to my father and maybe that’s why I never wanted to be adopted, it felt like letting go of the only thing that was left of him. But this family, they were welcoming me into their home with open arms and I felt loved in a way I hadn’t been in so long…I figured, as long as I always remember my dad then…it would be fine and he wouldn’t be mad at me or anything. Sometimes I still feel guilty though…” He said, voice slowly turning into a whisper. 

Seungmin had been listening attentively during Jeongin’s retelling of the past, letting him get it off his chest without interrupting, only humming and nodding here and there to let the boy know he was paying attention. But he couldn’t stop himself from pulling backwards so he could look Jeongin right in the eyes as he said,

“You shouldn’t feel guilty, Jeongin. I’m sure the last thing he would have wanted for you, was to stay without the chance of feeling that type of familial love again. I just know that he’s happy for you. For finding a family that loves you. Like you said, it’s not like you’re erasing his existence from your head just cause you changed your surname…Don’t feel guilty for allowing yourself to be loved.” 

Cupping Jeongin’s face gently, Seungmin used the pad of his thumb to wipe away the stray tears beginning to fall again. Jeongin nodded, not knowing how to respond for a while before he let out a small ‘Thank you’.

“I guess the reason I’m telling you all this is…maybe to justify the way I reacted to Chan finding out? I don’t know…” He chuckled humorlessly. 

“You don’t have to justify yourself Jeongin, I get that you were scared. With all that you told me I can, well I can’t say I know how you feel but just know that I understand that your reaction…was valid. And I already know Chan thinks the same way.” 

Jeongin nodded once again. 

“Hey, if worse comes to worse, I can convince my mom to take you in.” Seungmin blurted out. He didn’t realize how bad that sounded until it was too late and it had already left his mouth, but he hoped Jeongin would take it as he meant it, a joke.

Jeongin sat up a little, and fixed Seungmin a look before saying, “What, like adopt me? You can’t adopt me, we can’t be brothers.”

He sounded so defensive about it and that confused Seungmin, so he pushed himself up on his elbows and tilted his head confusion, “Hmm?” 

Jeongin rolled his eyes, exasperated,

“I can’t be your brother, you’re- you’re my…” Jeongin stopped himself from finishing the sentence, simply telling Seungmin to forget about it. 

“I’m what?” Seungmin asked before Jeongin could lay back down and this conversation would be over. He kind of got a sense of what the other was hinting at, but he was curios to know if it meant what he thought it meant. 

Maybe his eyes were fooling him, maybe he wanted to fool himself. But for a fraction of a second, he could have sworn that Jeongin’s eyes flitted down to his lips. Then he shrugged and went to lay down again. 

Seungmin decided not to press it any further, that tonight wasn’t the time to be doing that anyway. But that didn’t stop him from wondering what he was exactly to Jeongin. 

Jeongin went to wrap his arms around Seungmin’s waist, finding comfort in the other’s embrace. Soon their legs were entangled and no one could really tell where one boy started and the other one ended. However, just before sleep took over Jeongin’s body, Seungmin had mumbled something about finally getting his well deserved cuddles and Jeongin faintly remembered chuckling at that.

ღ 

Jeongin woke up the next morning to the sun filtering through the curtains and light falling onto his face. Waking him gently and telling him that a new day was ahead. He enjoyed the warmth for a bit but soon became puzzled by the lack of warmth in his arms. The confusion left as soon as it came after his eyes fell on Seungmin sitting with his back facing him, arms holding onto the edge of the bed.

He gazed at the white fabric of Seungmin’s over-sized t-shirt, let his gaze wander to the messy hair, fluffy with sleep. There was something about that view that made Jeongin stare for just a little longer than what would be considered normal. 

Then Seungmin turned around and they made eye contact. The older smiled and closed his eyes, sleepy and _cute_. 

“You’re up.” Seungmin said, his voice still gruff and Jeongin guessed that the latter didn’t wake up too long ago. 

“Good morning.” He replied, sitting up as well. 

Seungmin’s smile grew bigger as he said, “Good morning to you too.”

Jeongin’s heart stuttered in his chest the longer he kept looking at Seungmin and scrambled to get out of bed. 

“I think my mom’s making breakfast, you can use the bathroom first if you want. I’ll give you an extra toothbrush.”

 

They took turns in the bathroom and Jeongin made sure not to take his sweet time in there since Seungmin let him go first. When they were both done, Seungmin had grasped Jeongin’s hand in his own, walking all the way down the stairs with him and into the kitchen, where Seungmin said his mother would be. 

“Good morning mom!” 

“Good morning minnie! Oh I didn’t know you had a friend over, good morning dear!” She greeted them, and the first thing Jeongin noticed was that Seungmin got his eyes from his mother. 

“I’m sorry…I don’t mean to be a bother I just-” Jeongin began but was stopped before he could go on by Seungmin’s mother waving her hand in the air, dismissing his apologies and insisting that it wasn’t a bother at all.

“No no! Not at all! Seungmin only ever brings Changbin over, I’m glad there’s a new face around.”

“Mom, if Changbin hears that he’ll be heartbroken.” 

“Oh come on! He’s always welcome that’s not what I meant. To the dinning table, Heemin’s already up too.”

She ushered them into the dinning room, where indeed, Heemin was sitting with her phone in her hands. As soon as she’d noticed Jeongin, her phone was long forgotten on the seat next to her.

“Oh! Good to see you again Jeongin!” She said happily. 

“You too…”

Heemin eyed the joint hands for a second and her smile only grew bigger, but something in her eyes changed as she made eye contact with her brother. Seungmin responded by raising his eyebrows and looking her up and down, as if to say ‘What do you want?’

Seungmin pulled Jeongin with him to sit across from Heemin and were both impressed to see the table full of delicious foods. Seungmin’s mother always liked to cook a nice, filling breakfast whenever she didn’t have to rush out the door to work.

Even as Seungmin’s mother had sat down with them and they could start eating, Seungmin refused to let go of Jeongin’s hand. But the boy needed his right hand to feed himself properly so Seungmin settled for placing his hand on the other’s thigh all throughout the meal, not that it bothered Jeongin much. It was welcome, it made him feel somewhat grounded and reminded him that Seungmin was there, just, there. 

They’d eaten breakfast in silence for the first few minutes, Jeongin wondered if that was how it was in the mornings for the Kims or if his presence made talking about certain topics a little bit awkward. The youngest at the table, Heemin, must have felt the need to break the silence. If it was because she didn’t like the silence or if it was for Jeongin’s sake, he will never know. 

She’d gone off to talk about her week, about her teachers and classmates, about some funny incident that happened during PE. Until she’d run out of topics and focused back on eating. From there, Seungmin’s mother took the lead and complained about a few rude customers she’d had to deal with, about a sweet old lady that always came by the store even though she didn’t need to get anything, and just wanted to check on her. 

Jeongin already knew Seungmin wasn’t much of a talker while eating, he’d noticed that during lunch at school. If he was eating, then the food was all he was focused on for the most part, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t listening or didn’t drop a comment here and there.

Soon enough, everyone at the table had gotten up and much to Seungmin’s chagrin, Jeongin helped out with the cleaning. It was the least he could do, he thought, to show his gratitude to Seungmin’s mother for feeding him. 

 

They were back in Seungmin’s bedroom soon after. Folding his blanket and tidying the sheets, Seungmin began to talk,

“Are you leaving now? Not that I’m asking you to leave, not at all, but if you aren’t then we could probably head out and do something fun if you want. I can text Jisungie and Changbin hyung, I’m sure they’ll be down for it-” Seungmin was cut off by slender arms wrapping around his waist from behind him, and a head resting against him. He hadn’t noticed Jeongin taking small steps towards him as he’d been speaking with his back facing the door where Jeongin stood.

“What’s wrong?” He asked quietly, gently, like if he’d been any louder then somehow something bad would happen. 

“Nothing. Just, thank you, so much. I was worried I was being a burden but not once did you make me feel like that. You’ve been, well, supportive. A good friend…Thank you.” 

For reasons very well known to Seungmin, the words ‘Good friend’ didn’t feel as good as it should have. He brushed off the slight disappointment in his heart and reminded himself that at the moment, that’s what he was to Jeongin and that was ok. He’d rather be a good friend than nothing at all. 

He’d taken a pause before finally turning around to face the younger boy, looking down at him. Seungmin blinked at the proximity between them. 

“You’re never a burden. I’m glad you came to me. Although, I am curious, why didn’t you go to that beach?”

Jeongin looked up to meet Seungmin’s eyes slowly, a small smile playing on his lips before he whispered, 

“This was the safest place I could think of…”

“My bedroom?” Seungmin knew what the younger meant, but he still wanted to tease him. 

“No you fool! I meant wherever you are!” Jeongin pushed the other away before he was pulled back into a quick hug.

Seungmin went back to fluff his pillow, feeling his heart burst at what Jeongin admitted to him. He was Jeongin’s safe place. The more he thought about it the broader his grin became, and the more sure he was that his heart would explode. 

“I think I should go home now…the sooner the better.” Jeongin said.

“Ok, if you’re sure. I can walk you home if you-” Seungmin stopped himself from continuing when he heard a breathy chuckle coming from Jeongin. He turned around, pouting in confusion.

“You know you don’t have to do that right? I’ll text you about it later. See ya…” He waved goodbye before teleporting away. 

“That’s not getting old anytime soon huh?”

Seungmin shook his head, staring down at the floor with a fond expression on his face.

ღ 

Books set aside, bed made and curtains spread open to let the morning sun fill up his the room, Seungmin huffed after he was done with cleaning up his bedroom. It was a habit he maintained over the years, he wasn’t necessarily a clean-freak by any means but making sure his bedroom was neat and orderly made him feel accomplished, like it set the tone for him for the rest of the day. 

He rushed back downstairs, hoping he could find something entertaining enough to watch, to distract him from thinking about how it was going for Jeongin. Knowing and witnessing the bond between the two brothers, even only a couple of times, he knew he didn’t have much to worry about. That didn’t stop him from hoping it would go well for Jeongin.

His mother’s calling from the kitchen had him taking a detour before he could settle on the couch though.

Quickly making his way over to where his mother stood, her hair pulled into a low bun while she did the dishes, Seungmin tilted his head and hummed.

“So, Jeongin,” She started.

For a second, Seungmin thought his mother might have gotten upset at the unexpected guest in her house. But he quickly shook that thought off, his mother wasn’t like that. She was understanding and welcoming, so something like this wouldn’t bother her too much as long as the guest was polite enough, and Jeongin was far from badly mannered during his short stay. 

Instead of overthinking furthermore, Seungmin went to simply ask,

“What about him?” 

“Minnie, you were holding hands. You held his hand down the stairs, up the stairs and I’m sure if Jeongin was left handed you would have held his hand while he ate his food too.”

Panic started to bubble in Seungmin’s stomach. He’d never really gotten around to telling his mother of the fact that he just wasn’t into girls, never really knowing how she’d react to it.

“S-so? Boys can hold hands…I hold Changbin’s hand sometimes.” 

He did hold Changbin’s hands, not very frequently however. He also never held it for an extended period of time, just a squeeze or two and the hand holding was over.

“Of course boys can hold hands, and I’m sure you hold Binnie’s hands too sometimes but you’ve never looked at him the same way you look at that boy.” She said, removing her gloves and turning to her son. 

“I would never pressure you into saying anything you’re not ready for, and I don’t mean to assume anything either. But I know you Seungmin. Just remember, and never forget this in your life, that I love you. I will always support you and no matter what, as long as you’re doing what’s right, that will never change.” 

Seungmin could feel tears prick at his eyes at that point and he realized and asked himself, what was he so afraid of? The way this women was looking at him, how safe and truly loved he felt under her adoring gaze, he wondered how he ever allowed himself to doubt her. 

“Ok. Well, then,” He took a deep breath, straightened his back and looked his mother straight in the eye as he said it, “I’m gay.”

A grin spreading onto his mother’s lips, she wrapped her arms around her son. 

“I knew you had a crush on Jeongin!!” 

Seungmin chuckled as he heard his sister shriek at the entrance to the kitchen. 

ღ 

Jeongin sighed when he arrived at his bedroom.

He felt a pang of guilt hit his chest, knowing the amount of worry he brought upon his brother. 

Slowly making his way out of the door and walking up to Chan’s door that was left wide open, he stared at his brother’s body laying on the bed, facing the wall. He knocked on the door and Chan all but leaped out of bed but became still when the two met each other’s gazes. 

“Hyung…” He’d whispered out, and that was all it took for Chan to march towards him and envelop him in the tightest hug Jeongin ever received. 

 

An hour later, sitting on the bed with his brother, explaining his past to him, it dawned on Jeongin how wrong he was to ever think that Chan would ever tell their parents, let alone shun him for an ability he never asked for or alienate him.

“I’m so sorry Hyung…I never meant to worry you or anything, I should have stayed and talked to you–” 

“No no no, it’s ok. I get it, you were scared. I just, I guess it is partly my fault. Maybe I freaked out too bad, I should have been calm about it, that’s probably what scared you in the first place–” Chan went to quickly bat away the apologies, but was cut off by Jeongin’s soft protesting,

“What are you talking about? I would freak out too if I saw something like that happening, I was the one being over-dramatic abou–”

“Bang Jeongin, you take that back! Your reaction and your feelings at that time were completely valid–” 

“This isn’t going to end, is it?” Jeongin said softly, as he realized that if he didn’t end it here, they were going to keep going back and forth, taking the blame for a situation that wasn’t either of their faults.

Chan chuckled, ruffling his younger brother’s hair,

“I love you, you little brat,” He said jokingly.

Jeongin let out a whine-like sound before replying,

“I love you too, Chan hyung.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter!!  
> Also just a heads up that the updates are going to be really weird because I'm running out of planned chapters yEET I already know where I want this to go in the future but ykno the whole middle part needs to be figured out and needs to make sense and actually be useful to the plot lmao so forgive me if I don't update for like a monthfhldsakfh  
> Any feedback or opinions would be lovely!!

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr! @Felixmahdork


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